Lachrymose
by Sugar Reaper Lawliet
Summary: She is the average high school senior. That is until her life takes an unexpected turn, bringing her to the attention of an insomniac detective trying to solve the case of the century. Can she help solve it or is her secret too dangerous to reveal? LxOC
1. Chapter One

Chapters 1, 2, and 3 have been revised. If any readers have any suggestions please feel free to review and tell me what you think. I'm willing to listen thanks.

--

It was early in the evening, about seven o'clock on November of 2006. The bells of the church chimed, beautifully as their graceful song rang through the air. Rain poured from the heavens as the mumbling of thunder was heard throughout the city. Within the sounds of the rain came the padding of footsteps, belonging to that of a young woman.

She looked around the age of seventeen, a senior in high school and soon to be freshman in College. She was dressed in a long, black coat; a hood covered her head, protecting her from the cold, stinging rain. Her skin's texture was like translucent porcelain, smooth to the touch. Strands of her honey-brown hair fell from the hood, becoming covered in the mist of the rain. She was of average height and tiny framed. Her eyes were a light shade of orchid, a calm and peaceful color, but her eyes revealed a solemn look as an emotionless expression played on her lips.

She continued walking along the stoned path, away from the churchyard. Behind her stood a grave with fresh flowers placed before it. Flowers that she had left for the loved one she had lost. Today was the second anniversary of that fatal night, a night that she could never forget.

The woman looked to her watch and sighed, "Thirty-seven minutes. . ." she turned back, looking to the grave, "I'll visit again soon, Mom," she said then turned around, continuing on. As she continued on toward the gate of the church she heard a small thud over by a thicket of red, rose bushes.

"Huh? What was that?" she asked herself turning to the bush. She looked around, carefully observing the area. Her eyes stopped as something caught her attention. She walked over to the bush, kneeling down before it. She cautiously reached for the object piquing her curiosity.

It was a black notebook, "That's odd, guess someone must have left this here. . ." she looked at the front and saw the words 'Death Note' written in strange white letters. "Death Note? Weird title, wonder if the owner's name is inside?" she asked, opening the book. She didn't see a name, but did see writing inside the cover page.

"What kind of book is this? The human whose name is written in this note shall die. . ." she commented, reading the writing inside the book. As the storm began to grow worse and worse she decided it best to take it with her and look at it in the protection of her home.

--

Thank you My Sublunary Soul for your review. I really appreciate the suggestions. Let me know if there's anything else that I need to work on, thanks.


	2. Chapter Two

The woman stopped upon reaching her small apartment. Unlocking the door, she turned the knob, walking inside. The inside was tidy and elegantly decorated with furniture and picture frames.

Closing the door, she took off her coat, placing it on the coat rack as she made her way into the small living room. She set the notebook on the medium-sized coffee table and walked into the kitchen through an archway toward the refrigerator. Opening the refrigerator, she prepared a quick dinner, checking her answering machine as she did.

"No new messages," the automated voice spoke. She finished cooking her dinner, and walked into the dinning room. She pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, placing her food before her. She ate in silence before grabbing a black remote that was left on the table. Aiming at the television in the living room, she turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, stopping when she noticed nothing interesting was on.

She set down the remote and finished eating. After she was done, she rose to her feet and strolled back into the kitchen. She scraped the remaining food into the garbage can and placed the empty plate inside the dishwasher. She then grabbed the other plates from the sink that she had left earlier when she was leaving for school.

She placed them all inside the washer and turned it on. She left the kitchen, walking back into the living room. She sat down on the black, soft sofa placed before the coffee table; her eyes looking at the black notebook as she did. She sighed and picked up the book.

"I wonder who the owner of this is. . ." she said to herself, examining the notebook. She opened it up and continued reading the page where the so-called rules were listed. _This is weird, a notebook designed to kill people. . . who the hell would want something like that, even though I doubt it really works, it has to take a sick person to think something up like this. I wonder what happens if a name is written . . . how does it work--no, what am I thinking? This thing isn't real, so why bother with asking a ridiculous question. Then again, what if someone experimenting with it did write a name and someone died, would that person be considered a murderer?_ she thought.

Suddenly the phone began to ring, startled she dropped the book with a gasp. Placing her hand against her heart she sighed, "It was only the phone," she said, rising. She grabbed the phone, gaining her composure, "Hello, Tsubasa residents, Hikari speaking . . . huh? Oh, hey Yuka. What? What channel?" she asked, grabbing the remote quickly. She changed the channel and listened to the news report.

She stared at the television as a press meeting was taking place. Her eyes filling with anger and fear as she saw one of the men on the television, "Yuka, I'll call you back, ok? I won't . . . bye," she said and hung up the phone. Her full attention went to the television as she listened to the broadcast.

It was a group of twenty or so reporters surrounding a speaking platform where a man was speaking. He was sharply dressed in a business suit, his dark brown hair slicked back and glasses covered his hazel eyes. The man beside his was dressed in a business suit, as well. His brown hair was neatly brushed, but not slicked back like the other man and he had brown eyes.

"So, you're saying that your client was falsely charged in the Misaki Tsubasa murder case?" a reporter asked.

"Yes, according to prosecutors two years ago my client, Eito Shimizu was the number one suspect, however after looking further at the report and at witness testimony, it has been shown that my client was falsely accused," the attorney spoke as the man beside him smiled.

"Yes, but wasn't the witness the one who said she had seen him and he was unmistakably the person who murdered Misaki. The daughter also testified to seeing him that night as well--" the reporter pursued.

"Yes, but--" the attorney began.

"According to both witnesses it was dark, making it difficult to really be sure," the man next to him, Eito Shimizu spoke. "I said two years ago that I was innocent and well it seems that God has proved that, thank you," the man said as he and his attorney walked away from the cameras. The broadcast went back to another reporter. She turned off the television, sitting back down onto the couch.

"This . . . can't be happening. I know it was him, even the evidence suggested that . . . why is this happening. How could anyone possibly think that he is innocent? He lied throughout the entire trial. . ." Hikari said to herself as she lied down on the couch. Tears running down her face as memories returned to her mind. As she began to wipe the tears away, she noticed the book sitting on the coffee table.

Her orchid eyes stared at the mysterious notebook as her mind escaped her. She reached for the book slowly, grabbing it in one hand as she sat up. Opening it up, she grabbed a pen from the table and slowly began to write the name.

After she finished, she set the book down leaving it opened as she left the living room, down another hall toward her bedroom. She didn't care whether the notebook actually worked or not, she was too emotional to think or realize any mistake she might be making. She just needed some way to get rid of the pain.


	3. Chapter Three

The next morning came rather quick. The storms had passed and the sun was starting to dry up the puddles of water left by the rain. Birds chirped as the light blue skies brightened up. The sky was bare with only a few feathery clouds here and there.

Hikari awoke to the buzzing of her alarm clock. Even though it was a Saturday she had forgotten to turn off the alarm before going to bed. Rays of sunshine shined in through the white blinds, slightly opened at the window. By the window was a wood computer desk. Placed on top was a reading lamp, a few books, a calendar, and a laptop computer. Across from the desk was a queen-size bed with white feather pillows, and a plush, soft, white comforter.

Hitting the snooze button, she yawned as she sat up. Looking over to the clock, she sighed seeing the time, "Seven-thirty, guess I forgot about the alarm. . . then again. . . it was rather hectic last night," she said to herself, grabbing a white robe from her bed post. Rising to her feet, she wrapped the robe around her, loosely tying it as she made her way from her bed toward the bathroom to take a shower.

She spent the next fifteen minutes in the shower then after that, returned to her room to get dressed. Knowing that she would probably spend her day at home, taking a break for her weekly activities, she dressed in to comfortable clothing; a pair of lounge pants, purple plaid and a white long-sleeved shirt.

Leaving her bedroom, she strolled down the hallway into the living room, where she had left the notebook the previous night. Walking past the coffee table she made her way into the kitchen, opening the cabinet. She made her breakfast and started the coffee maker then walked out of the kitchen.

Walking across the living room again, she walked toward the front door. Opening it, she walked outside, grabbing the newspaper off of her doorstep. Closing the door behind her, she returned to the kitchen.

She ate her breakfast as she looked through the news paper. Finishing it, she cleaned up her dishes, rinsing them off in the sink. She opened the cabinet beside the sink, grabbing a coffee cup. She poured a cup of coffee and returned to the table, continuing to read the paper.

As she was reading, one of the headlines caught her attention, 'Prime suspect in Misaki Tsubasa murder case found dead,' the paper read. She stared at the words, not believing what she was seeing. Her eyes scanned the article finding the cause of death, a heart attack. According to news reporter, he died right after his press interview.

Scared she dropped the paper, looking to the living room. Slowly, she rose to her feet and walked, cautiously, toward the coffee table, where she had left the notebook, wide open. She reached down, picking up the book and looked at the name she had wrote in anger.

"It has to be a coincidence, I can't control death. . ." she tried to assure herself, even though she knew deep down that it was her fault that the man had died. As she tried to reason with herself over the matter she began to wonder why she should care about the man dying, he was the one responsible for killing her mother, why should she show sympathy for the likes of him. No, he was a human, just like every other, and she wasn't the one in right to pass judgment upon him. But was she considered a murderer now? Even though she was angry and would never mean anyone harm, was she guilty of the death of him? As these questions ran through her mind, dangerous answers began to appear as she read the rules on the side, starting to understand. Not wanting to see anymore, she tossed the book to the floor. It slid under the couch and remained there over the course of three days.


	4. Chapter Four

The loud chimes of the school bell rang through the air as students poured out the doors of the high school. Conversations filled the air as friends gossiped with each other as they left. Most of their gossip was over the newly popular Kira, an unknown murderer who had been killing criminals. Hikari sighed as she walked down the now empty halls. Coming to an intersection she turned right, heading toward a young man standing at a locker.

He was the same age as Hikari, seventeen. He was finely dressed in a white dress shirt with a red tie. He wore a tan-colored overcoat and khaki dress pants. His medium, brown hair was neatly combed. Underneath his bangs lied a pair of beautiful, reddish brown eyes. Hearing footsteps, he looked toward her, seeing who it was, "Hello, Hikari," he spoke with a polite tone. He was a well mannered boy who Hikari had known since childhood; a perfect student, son of the police chief, Light Yagami.

"Hi, Light, sorry for keeping you," she apologized.

"It's fine, it's fine, not to worry. So, what is it that you need to discuss?" he asked.

"Well, this is going to seem crazy but," she sighs, "Here goes nothing, I guess. I found a strange notebook a few days ago and I think it's, don't laugh . . . dangerous," she finished then waited for his reaction. She was expecting a laugh, but instead he replied with,

"Can I see it?" His tone was serious as if he actually believed her. Shocked, she opened up her satchel and removed the notebook. She showed it to him, "Where did you find this?" he asked.

"In the churchyard a few blocks from my home," she replied. Light looked around then to Hikari.

"We need to discuss this in a safer location, come with me, please," he said to her, grabbing his things that he needed from the locker. She placed the book back into her bag and the two of them walked out of the door.

"Wonder where we're going now?" A voice spoke. Hikari looked to her side. The thing beside her laughed, "I told you only you can hear me and see me, don't worry. Besides I doubt you'll have to worry about this guy knowing," the voice continued. It was coming from a creature that was flying beside her.

It was definitely male, judging by its voice and appearance. It was very tall and thin, but had some muscle to make up for that. His hair was blonde and his eyes blood red; out from his head came two horns, both the same size. His skin was almost white and he was bound in black and red clothing. He had fangs and long sharp claws that were covered in what seemed like dried blood.

A pair of black, feathered wings protruded from his back and in his hand he held a scythe. It was a long, black staff with a long blade at the top. The blade was nicked up in a few places and covered in blood. The creature or shinigami as she had been told was called Kaito.

It wasn't too long before they came upon Light's house. He opened the door walking inside, Hikari right behind him. His mother met them at the door, happily greeting Light home from school. She saw Hikari and smiled, "Hikari, what a pleasant surprise. It's nice seeing you. How have you been?" she asked her.

"I'm fine, thank you," Hikari replied.

"She's here to discuss an assignment," Light said to his mother then turned to Hikari, "Shall we begin?" he asked.

"Oh, um yes, right," Hikari agreed as she followed him upstairs into his room. They entered into the room and he locked the door behind her. He then walked over to his drawer and opened it, removing something from it. Before turning back around he sat the object down, and then turned to her.

"Let me see the notebook again," he told her. Doing as he asked, she removed the notebook and held it out. He walked over to her and took it, examining it thoroughly. He looked up from the notebook and smiled, "So, it is another one," he said, seeing Kaito next to Hikari. Hikari looked from Light to Kaito.

"He can see you?" she asked.

"Yes, he touched the Death Note. That's the only way humans can see a shinigami," Kaito replied. Hikari looked back to Light.

"So, I take it you were already aware of the notebook before today?" she asked. Light handed the notebook back to her.

"Yes," he said walking back to his desk. He picked up the object on his desk and turned around.

"I'm aware of it because I have one as well," he said, showing her another Death Note. As she saw it she realized something, something very important. "Tell me, other than me, have you shown anyone else your Death Note?" he asked.

"No, I haven't," she replied.

"Good, try to keep it hidden, no one is to know about it, the shinigami, or what the book is capable of, understood? I'm counting on you, Hikari," he said to her.

"What would happen if . . . someone did find out about it?"

"You know nothing, got it? Deny it, do whatever it takes. After all, I would hate to have to kill you," he said to her, sounding sincere in his declaration. Hikari looked at him, terrorized by his words. She was right, her realization was correct. . . Light Yagami was Kira.


	5. Chapter Five

A few days had past since Hikari's realization that Light was Kira. It was now December 08, 2006. Terror filled her mind and she knew she had no choice but to do as Light said, otherwise he would follow through with his sincere threat. She kept the Death Note with her always, never letting it out of her sight, nor allowing any other person to touch it, let alone see it. She was extremely careful with it and since the first day had not written a single name in the note.

Her attention sprang to Kaito as she heard him chuckle, "What is it, Kaito?"

"Not very active with the note, are you?" he asked her from across the room. He was lying on the couch eating from a bag of chips. Throughout the day, most the shinigami ever did was eat junk foods and take naps. He would occasionally play video games when he ran out of food to eat, usually pestering Hikari into going to get more.

"I'm not too fond of being a murderer, so of course I'm not going to go crazy with it. If I do happen to use it again it will be for a good reason," Hikari explained as she turned on the television. A few moments after it came on the screen changed from its program to a blue screen with a message for the viewers.

It read, 'Advisory. A special broadcast will be aired in place of what was scheduled in this time slot.' Suddenly the screen changed to a news anchor who tried to explain, "We'd like to apologize for the interruption. As of now we're bringing you a live worldwide broadcast of Interpol ICPO."

Another voice then spoke saying, "We now take you live to the ICPO."

"I wonder what this is all about," Hikari asked as her and Kaito looked to the television. The screen changed to the ICPO. A man was sitting before the camera, finely dressed with a name plate on the desk which read Lind. L. Tailor. He had black hair and blue eyes and looked about in his early to mid thirties.

"I head up an international police task force, which includes all member nations. I am Lind. L. Tailor, otherwise known as L," the man spoke.

"L?" Hikari asked as she watched the broadcast.

"Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer; I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down. I will find you. Kira, I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve. However, what you are doing right now is evil," the man finished as he smirked.

"I wonder if Light's seeing this . . . how will he react to it?" she asked herself. Kaito laughed.

"This is interesting, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy was to die," he said still laughing. Hikari looked at him then back to the television. Suddenly, like clockwork, the man grasped his chest in pain and fell forward onto the desk, dead instantly by heart attack.

She gasped after seeing it, "Light, you didn't . . ." she spoke, shaking her head. Suddenly, people rushed onto the scene, carrying away the man's body. Soon after, the screen changed again, this time changing to a white screen with the single letter L written in cloister black font in the middle.

"Uh . . . I had to test this just in case but I-I never thought it would actually happen. Kira, it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it," the person spoke but used a synthetic voice to hid their true voice.

"Listen to me, Kira, if you did indeed kill Lind. L. Tailor, the man you just saw die on television. I should tell you that he was an inmate, whose execution was scheduled for today. That was not me. The police arrested him in absolute secrecy, so you wouldn't have heard about it on TV or through the internet. It appears that not even you have access to information about these types of criminals. But I assure you, L is real. I do exist, now . . . try to kill me!" the person shouted over the broadcast.

"Is this guy crazy, then again . . . I guess he's pretty safe considering Light has no idea what he looks like or even his real name . . ."

"Come on, right now, kill me. What are you waiting for, are you gonna do it? Come on, try to kill me. What's the matter, can't you do it?" the voice persisted then stopped, taking a deep pause.

"Well Kira, it seems that you can't kill me after all. So there are some people you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint. Let me return the favor. I'll tell you something that I think you'll find interesting. Although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast, the truth is we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan."

"What?!" Hikari said shocked.

"I had planned to broadcast this message around the world until we found you, but it looks like that won't be necessary, I now know where you are. The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but in actuality the first of your victims was a suspect in Shinjuku. Of all the criminals that have recently died of heart attacks, this one's crime was by far the least serious; furthermore, his crime was only ever reported inside Japan. I used that information to deduce this much: You are in Japan and your first victim was little more than an experiment, which means that you haven't been killing for very long." Hikari kept watching unable to believe how right this person was about Kira's whereabouts.

"We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population and luckily we found you. To be completely honest with you, I never expected that things would go this well, but it won't be too long now before I'm able to sentence you to death."

"Wow . . . by this rate he'll be able to figure it out easily," Hikari said. Kaito sat there amazed.

"Well, seems your friend, Light, is going to have to be careful or he just might end up behind bars or worse," the shinigami said.

"Naturally, I'm very interested to know how you're able to commit these murders without being present, but I don't mind waiting a little bit longer. You can answer all of my questions when I catch you. Let's meet again soon, Kira," the voice finished then disappeared along with the screen.

"A battle between Kira and L . . ."

"This will be fun to watch," Kaito finished for her. She turned and looked at him, "What, you know you were thinking it," he said then laughed.

"Fun? More like intense," she said and looked back to her screen, "In anyway, Light's definitely going to have to be careful if he wants to stay out of L's grasp, then again I don't really think it's right for Light to get away with this, after all . . . it's as if he's playing God," Hikari said as she thought deeply about the issue. True, she was Light's friend and would try her best to help him, but this didn't seem right in her opinion, it wasn't his nor anyone else's job to pass judgment on people. She believed it should be left up to God and God alone. However, in her situation, what would she do? What could she possibly do, and would it put her life in danger? Those were the questions she asked herself that day.


	6. Chapter Six

Since the broadcast, gossip about Kira and his growing battle against L was becoming more popular than ever. Every conversation Hikari heard had something to do with Kira and she was rather tired of it. She tried to think of something else as she worked hard on her school entrance exam.

She as well as Light and other students were there, all trying their best to make it into To-oh University. As they were working on their test, the administrator shouted, "You there! Student number 162! Sit properly in your chair!"

Hikari ignored the shout, concentrating more on her test. She finished it before time was up, confident that she did well.

After a few days, her and the other students were called to To-Oh University as a part of the welcoming the freshmen class. Inside the auditorium crowds of people sat waiting for the entrance ceremony to begin.

"Now for the freshmen address, freshmen representative, Light Yagami," a man spoke before the group at a podium.

"Yes," Light answered, rising to his feet.

"And freshmen representative, Hideki Ryuga," the man continued.

"Oh, uh, here," a man in the back spoke. Other students began to gossip trying to see if this was the same Hideki Ryuga that they were familiar with, the pop idol. Hikari watched as the two walked up onto the stage. Light was finely dressed in a suit and tie while the other, Hideki Ryuga was casually dressed in a plain white shirt and baggy blue jeans. His black hair had that 'I just got out of bed' look and he wore a pair of tennis shoes.

_'Not something a person would usually wear to an entrance ceremony,'_ she thought, watching the man. Though she didn't know why, she was rather fascinated by the guy, he seemed very interesting.

Light gave his speech, perfectly, followed by Hideki, who did well also. During the speech, Hikari heard gossiping about Ryuga. Most of the students were discussing how he dressed and how weird he was. Hikari sighed, _Just because he dresses like that doesn't make him weird, he's just different. Nothing wrong with that. Sheesh! These people are annoying.'_

Finishing the speeches, the audience clapped as the two returned to their seats. After the ceremony, Hikari walked over to Light, congratulating him for his well spoken speech and for his high test results.

A few days passed by with nothing out of the normal happening. Hikari managed to see Light every now and then, but no words were ever spoken in regard to the Death Note. She had also seen Hideki Ryuga a lot, as well; most of the time when she saw Light.

As the days passed the Kira murders continued. It seemed as if the police were having much trouble figuring out who Kira was. Over the past weeks, Hikari had become very interested in who would win the battle, Kira or L.

She sat down on her sofa, Kaito napping on the floor. She sighed and grabbed the remote, turning on the television. The screen came up and it appeared as if there was another last minute broadcast. The screen was white and written in black letters was Kira.

"Another one and this time it's Kira? But why would Light--?" She listened to the broadcast and changed to the other channels as it was said in the broadcast. She watched as police officers were killed trying to stop the broadcast. "This is horrible, how could Light . . . wait, it can't be Light, I know it can't be. He would never do this . . ." she said to herself, her eyes remaining on the broadcast.

Later the next day, Hikari went to Light to discuss the recent broadcast. "So, what did you think of that broadcast yesterday?" Hikari asked.

"I'm not too fond of Kira's new actions, I'm rather concerned now that he's killing innocent people," Light answered casually as other students walked by.

_'Then I was right! This wasn't the work of Light, but then who was it?'_ she asked herself.

"Yes, I never thought he would stoop so low as to harm the innocent. To be honest I'm starting to believe that there might be more than one. So, how long until the police will have this case resolved, do you think?" she asked. As the two were talking, another person walked up to them.

"I hear the police are doing quite well," the person spoke. Hikari turned around, seeing the man. It was Hideki Ryuga.

"Hello," he said to the two.

"Oh, Ryuga, this is my friend Hikari, Hikari this is Hideki Ryuga," Light said, introducing the two.

"Nice to meet you," Hikari said to him.

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied.

Hikari turned to Light, "Well, I've gotta go, I'll talk to you later, Light. Nice meeting you, Hideki," she said with a smile then walked off.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," Light responded.

"Bye," Hideki Ryuga said as he watched her leave from their sight. He turned to Light, "Well, I'll see you around, Light," he said then walked off as he grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. Light watched him leave before walking off.


	7. Chapter Seven

Hikari yawned as she walked down the long sidewalk to her home. The streets were relatively quiet with only a few cars passing by every now and then. Storm clouds lazily stretched across the heavens, darkening the once crystal blue skies.

"Seems this storm is coming in quicker than reported," she said to herself. Kaito stood beside her, looking up at the sky in boredom.

"I'm hungry, can you pick up some more chips before we go home?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied softly, making sure she was not heard. Just in case she wasn't alone. As the two continued on, a car drove past, stopping up ahead. The car door opened and someone stepped out. Hikari stopped, wondering what this man was up to.

"Hikari Tsubasa?" the man spoke.

"Yes," Hikari answered, cautiously.

"I will need you to come with me, please cooperate," he told her.

Having a deep feeling that she wasn't in any danger, she complied with the man's request. She followed the man, stepping inside the car. Kaito followed her, sitting down beside her. As the car started to drive off Hikari looked around to find out just where the car was heading.

"Um . . . may I ask where I'm being taken?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, but that can not be revealed," he told her.

"I understand," she said and sighed. Kaito sighed as he looked out of the window.

Within the next few minutes, the car stopped. The man driving got out and opened it, allowing Hikari to exit the vehicle, "Please follow me," the man spoke to her, leading her inside a building.

She followed him in silence, keeping herself from pestering him with questions. He took her inside a room and told her to have a seat and wait. She nodded and took a seat, not really certain of what it was she was waiting for.

"This is odd," Kaito spoke looking around the plain, white room. Hikari observed the surrounds, finding it odd as well.

"Hikari Tsubasa, can you hear me?" a voice spoke from what seemed like nowhere. She looked around to find where it was coming from and noticed that a small speaker was placed in the wall.

"Yes, I hear you just fine," she replied.

"Good, I can understand that you are probably confused by this, but I need to ask you a few questions, please answer them honestly, alright?"

"Ok, sure," she said nodding. As she heard the voice, she seemed to notice the familiarity. She thought about it in her mind, trying to realize where she had heard it before.

"Good, first off, you've probably have been keeping up with the Kira case no doubt, so what are your thoughts on the issue?"

"You mean Kira himself?" she asked.

"Yes, and I promise nothing you say here will be repeated to anyone," the voice replied.

"I believe what Kira is doing is wrong. To be honest, I don't think the judgment of any human should be in the hands of another. It seems too much like that human is playing God," she answered without any doubt in her mind.

"Alright, thank you, next question, this refers to the announcement of the supposed second Kira, same question?"

"I believe that second Kira is more wrong than the first. True both are murderers, but it seems the second Kira doesn't really have a concern for whom he or she kills."

"So you agree with the reports that there are two Kiras?"

"Yes, I strongly do," she replied.

"Alright, thank you, now, next question, do you know who Kira is?"

"No, I don't," she replied.

"If you did, what would you do?"

"If I did? I'm not sure . . . if I knew as well as the person who was Kira then I'd probably be too afraid to say anything to anyone," she admitted, knowing that was her reasoning for not revealing Light.

"Scared for your life, I could understand that." the voice replied.

She sat there, staring to the floor as a thought crossed her mind, "May I ask a question?" she asked.

"Yes, I don't mind answering a question, what is it?" the voice asked.

"Are you L?" she asked the voice.

"What gave you that idea?" the voice replied.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure how I came to that assumption; however, I feel as if I'm right. I mean you're asking me questions in regard of the Kira case, so it seemed a little suspicious to me," she replied.

"Hmm, tell me, If I was L, would you tell me who Kira is? Knowing that he would never find out from me?"

"I . . . I'm not sure . . ." she replied.

"Listen, Hikari, if there is anything you know, please tell me. It could save lives," the voice persisted.

"I honestly don't know anything . . ." she said, urging for him to believe her.

"Alright then, thank you. You are free to go; someone will take you home momentarily. Oh and Hikari, if you do happen to find out anything, don't hesitate. I will give you a contact number so you can reach me, have a nice day," he said then everything was silent.

A few moments later the other man took her home, handing her a slip of paper when he dropped her off. Hikari looked at the number as she walked inside her home.

_'Were my instincts right? . . . Was that really L?'_


	8. Chapter Eight

Meanwhile, back at the building Hikari just returned from, a young man sat in a dark room, alone. He was sitting in the center of the room on a dark colored sofa. His position was rather odd, for he didn't sit as most people. Instead, he was bent down with all of his weight being held by his feet. His raven, spiky hair fell over his onyx eyes while he sat there deep in thought. He had bags under his eyes that made it appear as if the man never slept. His skin was very pale and he was thin. His clothing was casual: a loose, white shirt that hardly fit his tiny frame and a pair of baggy blue jeans. He sat bare foot, for he disliked socks. His appearance was oddly familiar to the student from To-Oh, Hideki Ryuga; in fact, he was Ryuga. He sighed and ate a piece of candy as someone entered the room behind him.

"Ms. Tsubasa has been returned home safely," the person told him. It was the elderly man who had drove Hikari to and from the building. The man poured a cup of coffee and handed it to the young man.

"Good. Oh, thank you, Watari," the young man replied. He took the cup from the man, setting it down on the cluttered table before him. It was covered in sweets, revealing that the man had a love for sweet foods. Doughnuts, chocolate, cookies, pieces of cake and pie, strawberries and other sweets littered the table. It was rather surprising that the man was as thin as he was when in comparison to the amount of sweets he consumed.

He placed the cup next to the microphone he used to talk to Hikari. With that he was able to change his voice, making it difficult for anyone to know his voice. He was rather surprised by Hikari's question on him being L. Her question had caught him off guard, which was something that rarely ever happened. He was usually a step ahead of others, knowing it was possible for his life to be threatened if he wasn't. He had to admit that she was very observant for someone so young and that alone interested him.

"So, Ryuuzaki, what do you think?" Watari asked him.

"No doubt she is involved; however, not as in guilty. She obviously knows something, but seems too scared to reveal it. If I possibly give her time, talking with her more, maybe I can get her to talk," the young man, Ryuuzaki, said as he dropped several sugar cubes into his cup of coffee.

He took a large sip from it and looked to the video he recorded during the interview. He watched her change in behavior during each question, noticing at what time she was not being honest with him. His eyes stayed on the video, his thumb against his lips as he concentrated. He quickly noticed that she changed at the last question he asked in regards to knowing Kira, personally. Instead of looking toward the camera before her as she did during the other two questions, she averted her eyes from it. Lowering her eyes to the floor, she tried hard to hide the fact that she was aware of the identity of Kira.

"Do you need me to put in cameras or wire-tap her home?" Watari asked, ready to do whatever Ryuuzaki needed him to do.

"No need, I doubt we'd find out anything useful, however . . . no, I'll figure something else out. After all, she isn't a suspect. No need to watch her every move or listen to her phone conversations," Ryuuzaki admitted as his brain began to concoct an idea.

_'You obviously know something, Hikari, but what is it? You have to talk . . . If Light really is Kira, as I believe, you are the only way I can convict him. Now, how can I make you talk?'_ he thought hard to create a plan to get the truth from Hikari.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note nor any of its characters. The only thing I do own is Hikari and Kaito.

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated on this site. Hopefully, I can catch up to the number I'm on at Quizilla. Anyway, here's chapter nine . . . nothing much to say, but oh well. Review plz! I appreciate feedback, even if you're telling me what I need to work on.

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A few days had passed since the day Hikari was questioned. Since that day, her mind had been focusing on whether that was in fact L. She gave an aggravated sigh and opened her satchel, removing a novel that she was studying in one of her courses.

She was sitting outside of the college, at a table, under one of the many cherry blossom trees covering the campus. Petals of the flowers gracefully fell to the lush, green grass. The gentle breeze rustled the branches filled with dozens of blossoms, each light pink petal perfect at every glance. The surrounding was serene, with the singing of birds in the background.

Hikari's attention left her book as she heard footsteps bending the crisp blades of grass. Her orchid eyes looked up, caught by the mysterious, onyx eyes of Hideki Ryuga. "Oh, hi," she said politely, closing her book, "Are you looking for Light?" she asked, believing that he had came to ask her that.

"Um, no. Actually, I'm here to talk to you. Considering you are a friend of Light, I'm interested in getting to know you," he said to her, sitting down. She quickly noticed the awkward way he sat; not really sitting at all, more like crouching down, hugging his knees.

"Oh, ok, sounds great," she said.

"Good," he said with a smile. Hikari was surprised, out of all the times she had seen him, this was the most he had said to her. He was, from what she could tell, a little shy, not really much of a talker. He spoke to Light, but that was about it.

The two of them sat there, discussing things such as Hikari's childhood and how she met Light. "The two of you seem pretty close," he said to her.

_'Not lately, he's been too busy playing God to hang out with friends.'_ "Yeah, I guess. It's because he's always been there for me, especially after my mom died," she said, her tone shifting to more depressing.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said to her.

"Yeah, it's been two years now, so, anyway, what about you?" she asked, changing the subject. He knew the subject was tender and decided it best if it was changed.

"Me? Well, my life isn't that interesting. I'm a sugar-holic and I hate socks," he admitted. Hikari giggled at his reply. He gave a slight smile, "So, I hear they are serving cupcakes in the cafeteria, would you like to join me? We can continue our conversation in there," he said.

"Sure," she replied, putting away her book and placing the satchel strap on her shoulder, "let's go," she finished and walked toward the cafeteria, Ryuga walking beside her.

_'Seems like everything is going perfectly, it won't be long before I'm able to get the truth from her. Of course there is only a ten percent chance of her knowing the truth about Kira, but something is telling me that I'm not wrong here,'_ he thought as he walked beside her. His eyes looked to her, observing her expressions. By her eyes, he could tell she was hiding something. They were a pure, beautiful purple, but a gleam in them held a secret, something she held locked up inside as much as she could. He looked away from her to straight ahead, his plan running through his mind.

The two of them arrived in the cafeteria moments later. Grabbing their cupcakes, they took a seat, continuing their conversation. As they sat there, a question ran through her mind, "Um, I have a question, not to be mean or anything, but why do you sit like that?" she asked, curious to know.

"Because if I were to sit normally, my deductive skills would immediately be reduced by roughly forty percent," he explained.

"Ooh, ok, that makes sense," she replied.

From a distance, they were being watched. It was Light, standing far across the room, watching, wondering just what was going on. _'Just what is Ryuuzaki up to?'_ Light thought then he gasped as his eyes went wide, _'D-Does he think . . . that Hikari knows about me being Kira? Damn him, that bastard is trying to get her to reveal it to him! Relax, remain calm. There isn't anything to worry about, after all there's no way he could get Hikari to reveal it. She's too loyal; besides that, she knows I hold her life in my hands. Don't do anything stupid, Hikari, and you'll continue living.'_ Light turned and left the room, disappearing into the halls of the university.

After spending a while talking to each other, the two ultimately must say their goodbyes, "Today was a rather interesting day, for once I actually had fun, thanks," Hikari said with a smile.

"You're welcome, we should do this again. How about tomorrow, unless you're busy of course," he said.

"Sure, how about five thirty at the coffee shop on the corner?" she suggested.

"That sounds fine, I'll meet you there," Ryuga replied as he ate his cupcake.

"Good, bye," Hikari said, waving to him with a smile as she walked off. He stood there with his hands in his pockets and watched her walk off. He sighed then turned around starting to walk off. As he walked forward he noticed Light Yagami before him.

"Hello, Light," he spoke. Light looked at him.

"What are you doing, Ryuuzaki? Do you suspect Hikari of being-?" he asked, hiding the fact he knew what he was up to.

"Oh, no, she's way too innocent to be someone like Kira, I was only trying to get to know her. She seems like an interesting girl, extremely smart," he replied.

"Yes, she is, but what's with the sudden interest?" he asked.

Ryuga shrugged his shoulders, "Just a change of pace. See you later, Light," he answered before walking off. Light growled in frustration at Ryuuzaki's attempt to befriend Hikari. He watched as the young man walked off before leaving as well.

Ryuga walked off campus, deep in thought over the case. _'So, Light, it seems you're upset with me talking with Hikari. Hmm, just one afternoon and the percent of you being Kira has increased by seven. However, unless I have proof of you being Kira, I can not make a move. I need to try harder with Hikari. Some kind of sign is bound to slip.'_


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note, sadly. If I did L wouldn't have died.

Well, here's ten... and more L cuteness XD anywhoo hope it's all right. Once again reviews are welcome so please do so... :D

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As planned, Ryuga met Hikari at the coffee shop on the corner. The two ordered a cup of coffee and continued on with their conversation. They discussed school, likes, dislikes, and eventually got onto the subject of Kira.

"So, Hikari, if I may ask, what is your opinion on Kira?" he asked her, trying to seem casual with his questions on the subject.

"Well, I think that Kira's in the wrong for killing people, whether they are convicted felons or not, it is not in his jurisdiction to pass judgment on them. I mean, I can understand what Kira's trying to accomplish, but his actions seem childish. He wants a perfect world, which will never happen. Honestly, I hope he's brought to justice before anymore people lose their lives," she explained, her eyes looked into his, "What about you?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself, and yes, one could only hope he is stopped soon. What about this L character?" he asked, remaining casual.

"I'm actually surprised at how good he is. From what I've heard, it won't be long before Kira is caught. I've kind of been rooting for the guy, but God only knows the outcome of this," she said. He smirked inwardly, hearing that she was an L supporter despite the increasing number of college students that support Kira.

"I suppose," he said, drinking his coffee. He looked at her, noticing that she was deep in thought over something, "Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Hmm, oh, just thinking about something that happened a few days ago," she said.

"What was it?" he asked, interested.

"Well, ok, but you can't laugh, no matter how ridiculous it might sound, ok?" she asked.

"Sure, I promise not to," he said to her.

"I think that I actually talked to L," she looked at him then looked down, "I know, it sounds stupid, but it's the only explanation I could come up with and I don't know why. I just had this really weird feeling it was him . . . you think I'm crazy, don't you?" she asked him.

"Not at all. Besides, who's to say it wasn't him? The guy is in Japan or so I've been told, you possibly could have met him," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess, thanks for making me feel better," she said with a smile she then began to wonder, thinking of a random question, "I wonder if he's hot?" she asked out loud.

Hideki looked at her, "Ok, may I ask where that came from?" he asked. She laughed at his question. He looked at her as if she was crazy.

"You give the same reaction as Light. I used to drive him insane doing that. I would look at him all serious and then ask him if he thought some random guy was hot. He'd look at me and say 'Hikari, you are without a doubt the weirdest girl I've ever known,' those days were the best," she said.

"Hmm, well I wouldn't say you're _that_ weird," he said to her.

"Oh really, but I'm just a little, right?" she asked.

"Yes, I'd say there's a slight chance of that," he replied, teasing her.

"Thanks a lot," she said to him. The two of them stayed there for a while, continuing with their chat well until the evening. At that time, the two left the coffee shop going their separate ways.

Hikari sighed as she walked inside her home. "Well, you've had quite interesting days, lately," Kaito said to her as he crashed on the couch, grabbing his half full bag of chips.

"Yeah, I guess," she said with a smile as she walked off to her room. Changing out of her day clothes into her pajamas, she thought about her time with Ryuga. She sighed as she fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, "He's such an amazing guy, funny, interesting, and cute, too . . . oh my god! Did I just say that?" she asked herself, "Am I really . . . falling for . . . Hideki Ryuga?" she finished. She thought about that question until she drifted off to sleep.

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Hmmm, not really long is it... oh well, I get around to the longer chapters eventually. hope you liked it. Remember to Review :D

**-10-19-08-** Yes, I changed some of L's dialogue and will go back to other chapters and check over them and make other necessary changes as well. Thank you, LittleKittyShaoMao for the pointing that out to me, I really appreciate it. :D If there's anything else, please let me know :3 Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest. Thanks for the review!

-Reaper


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note. I only wish I did.

Here's eleven... not really long, still trying to work on longer chapters anyway, enjoy and please review...

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A few weeks had passed since Hikari had last seen Ryuga; he hadn't been at school or talking with Light, either. As she sat in her classes, she wondered where he could possibly be.

After class, she left the building, heading across the campus of the university. It was then, when she noticed Light standing before Hideki Ryuga, who was sitting on a wooden bench. She approached, slowly, hearing a little of their conversation, "Is it ok to be here? Didn't you say you were afraid to appear in public?" he asked.

_'Huh? What does Light mean by that? Is Hideki in danger?'_ Hikari thought.

"Yeah, I did, but then I realized that as long as you're not Kira, I should be safe. The fact is you're the only one on the outside who knows me as L. In the unlikely event that I die in the next few days, I've instructed your father and everyone at headquarters to assume that you are Kira." he admitted.

Hikari froze when she heard it. Hideki Ryuga, the guy she had become friends with. The one she was starting to fall for. He was L! He was the great detective that everyone was talking about capturing Kira. It was him all along. As she thought about this, a question popped in her mind, _'Was he just trying to get a confession from me? Was that all that was? It wasn't about friendship at all . . . he just wanted answers . . . damn him,'_ she thought as she continued listening in. As the two started walking off, a young woman --blonde-- appeared before them. She was a tiny girl, a well known model by the name Misa Amane or Misa Misa.

Hikari watched as the three stood there talking. Suddenly, a huge group of people surrounded them, seeing Misa. It was like that for a few moments until her manager came and dragged her off, telling her she was going to be late for her shoot. The crowd dispersed and Ryuga began to walk off, Light remaining behind. She saw Light take out his cell phone and he dialed a number.

As Ryuga walked off, the phone with him began to ring. Light turned to Ryuga, who explained that someone must have dropped the phone during the excitement. She heard Light explain it was Misa's phone and he returned it to Light. The two of them exchanged words again before walking off a final time.

Hikari watched as the supposed L walked off, accidentally tripping when she stepped back. She fell back with a thud, rustling a bush she managed to hit with her hand. Ryuga turned toward the bush, walking over to her when he saw her sitting on the ground.

She stood up, dusting herself off when she saw him. "Hikari, what are you doing?" he asked and noticed that she looked a bit ticked off.

"Thanks for being honest with me, L," she spat then turned and ran off, not giving him a chance to say a word or explain anything. Although he didn't see it, a small stream of tears ran down her cheeks.

He stood there, shocked at what she had just said. Did she hear the conversation between him and Light, did she honestly know that he was in fact L. Those questions ran in his mind. _'This isn't good, what am I gonna do now,'_ he thought hard to come up with something.

Hikari slammed the door behind her, heading through the apartment to her bedroom. She shut her door and flopped down onto her bed. Kaito watched her, a bit freaked out by her new behavior. Hikari didn't say a word, just laid there, her head lying on her pillow, hiding her eyes covered in tears. She was upset, but more at herself than at L. It wasn't the fact that he had used her to get information, pretending to want friendship, that wasn't the problem. It was that she was falling for him, the enemy of one of her friends and she hated herself for it.

Her mind was full of questions without any hint of answers. What was she going to do? Suddenly, the telephone on her bedside table began to ring. She looked up from her pillow, to the phone. Instincts told her who it was, but she didn't know how to react. Would she just ignore him, hoping he'd get the message to leave her alone? Would she answer it and hear him out? What? Which method was better and wouldn't cause her any pain. She thought about it as the phone continued to ring.

_'It doesn't matter,'_ she told herself, _'no matter if I take the call or just let it ring, I'm going to get hurt. Either I lose Light and possibly end up killed or I lose L with him getting killed by Light . . . why me? Of all the damned people in this world why did that damned thing end up in my hands!?'_ she asked herself as she looked to her Death Note, lying under a magazine on the table next to the phone. The phone stopped ringing, letting the answer machine pick up the call. She was silent as she listened to the message. She heard a beep then a click, no message was left. She sighed and lied her head back down.

The phone rang again, and again she ignored it as it followed the same cycle. This continued over again at least five times before she got fed up with it. Grabbing the phone off the receiver she shouted, "Leave me alone!"

_"Hikari? What's wrong, are you alright?"_ she heard a female voice say, sounding worried.

"Yuka? Yeah, I'm fine, just having a bad day, that's all," she admitted, calming down and wiping away her tears.

_"You sure? You sound really upset . . ."_ she said.

"I'm fine, it's nothing-" Hikari explained.

_"Ok, well, if you need me you know where I am, alright?"_ she urged her friend.

"I know. I'll talk to you later . . . alright?" Hikari said to her, assuring her that she was ok.

_"Ok. Bye, Hikari,"_ Yuka told her.

"Bye," she replied, hanging up the phone. She sighed as she lied back down onto the bed. She grabbed her pillow, clutching it to her body as she drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

And the story continues... enjoy :D

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The next few days were extremely weird for Hikari, Ryuga wasn't at school. That was no surprise considering that he was L, but Light was not at school, either. Something wasn't right; Light would have called her if he was sick. This was not like him at all. She was starting to worry. The day at school went by normally with nothing extremely odd happening except that the murders had stopped. They had stopped with no one dying for days.

_'Was Kira captured? That would explain Light's disappearance from school . . . I wonder,'_ she asked herself as she walked home, Kaito flying above her, looking around for some junk food to eat. He flew down, stopping before her.

'_Maybe I should contact L about Light's absence—no, stupid idea, Hikari! Then L will know for sure that Light is Kira . . . but honestly is that a bad thing? It would end Kira's reign, but my life would be in danger. After all, Light would assume I revealed it. However, that all depends on if he has the Death Note with him,'_ she thought, wondering if this was the time to make her move. Whether she was mad with L or not, she would help stop Kira.

"Hey! Hikari?" No answer, "Hello! Hikari! I'm talking to you," he said trying to get her to answer. She looked up at him.

"Hmm, oh sorry, Kaito, what is it?" she asked in a whisper.

"Can we please get some more junk food, I'm starving," he told her. She sighed and shook her head.

"You know, Kaito, if you keep eating all this junk you're going to get fat," she explained.

"So, I can sleep it off," he told her, crossing his arms.

She laughed, "Sure you can. Alright, fine, but next time you're going to have to make due with the food I have at home," she told him.

"But, all of that stuff is healthy . . . it will kill me!" he replied.

"Kaito, healthy foods aren't gonna kill you, after all, you already told me you couldn't die, remember?" she reminded him. He thought for a moment and remembered saying that when they first met.

"Oh, right," he sighed, "ok, I guess," he responded.

After stopping by the small corner store, Hikari finally made it home. She walked inside and stretched after placing her satchel on the floor, "Feels great to be home," she said. Suddenly, the telephone began to ring, "Hmm, wonder who that is?" she asked, making her way towards the phone in the kitchen.

"Hello--oh it's you," she said, knowing the voice. "Yeah, I'm listening . . . what? Uh, I-I guess . . . sure . . . ok . . . bye" she said and hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Kaito asked, curiously as he opened a bag of chips.

"It was L . . . he needs to speak to me in person . . ."

"Well, are you going?" he asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Kaito shrugged. She thought about it for a moment then walked into her bedroom. She grabbed the Death Note and hid it, just incase someone searched her home while she was gone. "Ok, let's go, Kaito," she said.

"Can I at least eat first?" he asked, flopping down on the couch.

She sighed and turned to him, "Fine, but clean up whatever mess you make, besides I can't get to where L is anyway, so I'm going to have to wait for that car to get here," she said. Kaito happily ate his snacks, devouring everything in the bag. Belching after he was finished, he threw away the empty containers.

"Disgusting," she said to him, rubbing her temples. Her attention went to the door when she heard a knock. She rose to her feet and walked over to the door, answering it. It was the elderly man, Watari.

Without a word, Hikari stepped inside the car. She sat there staring out the window as her hectic mind wondered just what L wanted now.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note.

hmmm, not really thrilled about this chapter... oh well enjoy! :D

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"I'm surprised that you actually agreed to show up," L said to Hikari as the two of them sat in a dim room. They were the only ones in the room, for the other officers were requested to leave them. L sat in a chair before her in his usual, awkward position. A cup of coffee was held in his hands. Hikari sat across from him on a small sofa.

"Yeah, same here," she replied, making sure he knew she was still pissed. He sighed and took a sip of his coffee.

"Wow, women can sure hold grudges," he mumbled. Kaito started laughing. Hikari growled at what he had said.

"You know, it's some smart remark like that, that pisses me off, Ryuga-- L or whatever your name is!" she snapped.

"Calm down, Hikari, I didn't call you here only to mock you, I actually have a real proposition to speak with you about," he said to her as he stirred his cup of coffee. He added more sugar cubes to it and stirred it up once again before taking a sip.

"Oh, yeah, what is it?" she asked.

"After a lot of thought and research I have come to a decision. I would like for you to join the Kira task force," he said simply, then took another sip from his cup.

"Wow, this is interesting, will you say yes, though?" Kaito asked Hikari as he saw the expressionless look on her face.

"I-I," she stumbled for words, "Why me? I mean I'm not a detective nor do I know how to catch a killer," Hikari said.

"Maybe not, but you are very smart, you were able to figure out that I was L," he said, giving her a little encouragement.

"I actually overheard your conversation, it wasn't the work of a genius," she admitted.

"No, not then; I mean when you came for the interview, you were able to figure that out easily, I was rather shocked," he explained, "Which is why I believe you would be valuable to this team," he finished. _'Hopefully, she won't see though that one. True she was the first person that came to that conclusion that fast, but I guess with all the questions it was bound to lead to that one,'_ he thought.

"Are you sure it isn't just because I know you're L and that you don't want any other outsiders to know?" she asked, staring at him through narrowed eyes, seeing if he would admit the truth to her.

_'Damn, spoke too soon.'_ "Seems you caught me. Yes, that was one of my reasons, but it wasn't the only. I was being honest when I said you're highly intelligent and very valuable to this investigation," he responded, "so, what is your answer?" he asked, as if she really had a choice.

She sighed, "I'll do it," she answered.

"Good, welcome to the team," he said to her, sounding rather bored.

Kaito chuckled, "Hmm, not very enthusiastic about it, is he?"

"Thanks . . . I guess," she replied. A sudden thought crossed her mind, "Um, L-"

"Please, refer to me as Ryuuzaki from now on," he urged, finishing his coffee.

"Oh, sorry; Ryuuzaki, um, what will I do about school and my apartment and bills? I mean I can't just–" she began.

"No need to worry, that's already been taken care of. Now you are able to be dedicated to this investigation 100 percent. Oh and considering you're a woman, I figured you would want your own room, so here." He handed her a room key. "Your room is just across the hall. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask,' he told her, grabbing a cookie from the table and tossing it into his mouth.

"Oh . . . ok. So, what do I need to do?" she asked.

"I'll let you know as soon as it comes to mind. Until that time, you may do whatever it is you like, within limits, oh and before I forget, I have a no cell phone policy; so, while inside please keep it turned off, understood?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied.

"Thank you, please tell the others they are allowed inside now," he asked her. She nodded and rose to her feet. She started to walk off as L grabbed another cookie off the table.

"Oh, Ryuuzaki?" she spoke softly from the door as she reached for the door knob.

"Yes, Hikari?" he asked, finishing the cookies.

"You wouldn't have to worry . . . about your identity. I wouldn't have ever said anything about you being L . . ." she admitted. He turned to her, looking her in the eyes.

He turned back around, grabbing another pastry. Hikari opened the door and walked out of the room, L listened as she shut the door behind her and sighed, "Hikari, you truly are an amazing person," he said to himself and went back to eating his sweets.

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Orohippus - Thanks for the review :D In regards to the question about the title. I based it off of a song that I was listening to when I came up with this idea. That song was Lacrimosa by Sweetbox. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading people! and don't forget to review! :D Oh and thanks to all the people who added this to their faves and story alerts :D you all get cookies! X3

-Reaper


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note.

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After everyone returned to the room, Hikari was introduced to the other task force members, Tota Matsuda, Shuichi Aizawa, and Kanzo Mogi. After the brief introduction they worked on a series of observations. "Watari, please turn on the monitors," Ryuuzaki spoke.

"Yes," the computer before him spoke.

The monitor suddenly came on revealing what they were observing. Hikari stared at the screen, "Light?" she turned to L, "L—err, Ryuuzaki, what's this all about?" she asked. He didn't answer, but instead kept watching the screen. Before him, on the table, were three microphones as well as his usual pile of sweets. Hikari sighed and remained quiet, watching the screens as well.

Other than Light, two more people were confined as well. Misa Amane, who was suspected of being the second Kira and Light's father, Soichiro Yagami, confined out of concern of what he would do if Light was in fact convicted.

As the observations continued, Misa began talking about a stalker and wanting to take a bath and get a new change of clothes. She seemed to have absolutely no idea why she was being confined.

'_Is this girl really this ignorant?'_ Hikari thought to herself, listening to Misa's constant rambling. She looked to Ryuuzaki who seemed un-phased by anything going on around him. He just sat there, emotionless, like a lifeless doll. _'Can he possible be human? All he does is sit there and stare at the screen. It's as if he's in his own little world.'_

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Aizawa said as he and Matsuda discussed the situation.

Ryuuzaki remained quiet, his thumb placed against his lips as he tried to concentrate on where to go from this point. He needed a confession, but so far wasn't getting anywhere. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his name being called. "Ryuuzaki," it was Light. "Have there been any new criminals reported? If so, has Kira killed any of them?" he asked.

Ryuuzaki pressed a switch on the middle microphone to speak to Light, "In fact, quite a few criminals' names have been broadcast recently, but since you've been detained we haven't had one report of a criminal being killed by Kira," he told him.

"No one's been killed? Not a single one?" Light responded acting surprised. Hikari saw right through it. She already knew he was Kira, so there was no need to believe his innocence card.

"I see, so it's only a matter of time before I am convicted as Kira," Light said, closing his eyes as he sat on the bed placed in solitary confinement.

* * *

Seventh day of confinement  
Hikari sat there, bored out of her mind. To keep her entertained, she watched Kaito stare at all the sweets on the table, trying to find a way to sneak a treat away without anyone noticing. He would growl and carry on with whimpers, practically begging for something sweet.

"You're enjoying this torture, aren't you?" Kaito asked Hikari. She gave him a faint smile which faded away before anyone turned toward her direction. Her gaze returned to the screen as she began to wonder about the end results. Would Light be convicted? If so, would she be charged for knowing the whole time? She sighed as her eyes looked to the ground.

Ryuuzaki's eyes shifted to her, quickly noticing her stress. His eyes left her and looked back upon the screen as he tried to figure something out. He pressed the switch to speak to Light.

"Light, you've only been here for one week and I'm sure it can't be easy. Are you feeling alright?" he asked, seeing him just sit there on the screen. His face held an emotionless expression as he was facing the floor.

He looked up, "Yeah, I know I must look pretty bad in here with this useless pride. I suppose I'll have to abandon it," he said.

"Ah, I understand now," Hikari heard Kaito say as he watched the screen. Hikari looked from him to the screen, not understanding what Kaito meant.

She looked at Light, noticing a change in his eyes. They appeared innocent as if he was unaware of what was happening. Ryuuzaki quickly noticed this as well, "Huh?"

Light looked around at his surroundings, then to the camera. His behavior suddenly changed as he begged Ryuuzaki to release him from confinement. The others were surprised by the sudden shift in Light, not really sure what was going on. He was contradicting himself and began shouting random theories out to Ryuuzaki in attempts to prove his innocence.

Hikari listened to him, not really sure what was going on with him. _'He can't be telling the truth because I know for a definite fact that he is Kira . . . yet, he still seems innocent, as if he isn't Kira, but wait?- Arg! I'm confusing myself,'_ Hikari thought, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Even L was confused by Light's new actions. Something was off, but he seemed as if he was actually telling the truth. _'What's wrong with you, Light Yagami? What you're saying is completely absurd, but for some reason it feels believable to me,'_ he thought.

Ryuuzaki sat there, looking at the screen, trying hard to figure out what was going on. He placed his thumb on his lips, concentrating hard.

A few days later, the team received reports that Kira had struck again. Matsuda, eager to let the chief know, ran over to the microphone and told him. This bit of news made Mr. Yagami feel a bit better, believing that Light wasn't Kira; however, he then remembered that it probably wouldn't be enough for Ryuuzaki to clear him.

Hikari and the other investigators looked to Ryuuzaki. He looked at them then replied, "Well, he's in the grey." Satisfied with Ryuuzaki's reply, Mr. Yagami felt a lot better about the situation.

"Let's tell Light," Matsuda said, reaching toward the switch. Ryuuzaki quickly slapped his hand away.

"Matsuda! I mean, please don't Mr. Matsuda. We shouldn't let him know about this," Ryuuzaki spoke.

"B-but why not?" Matsuda asked.

Without an answer, Ryuuzaki pressed the switch to speak to Light. He informed him that no criminals had been killed and that he was better off confessing rather than making this difficult.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm telling you, you're wrong. I understand why you feel that way, but even if the evidence does point to me, I swear to you that this is a set up! I am not Kira!!" He shouted, denying the accusations against him, "Zoom in on me if you want. Go ahead, look at my eyes. You tell me, do these look like the eyes of someone who is lying?" Light asked.

He then switched to Misa, asking her if she was ready to reveal Kira's identity or not. She told him she didn't know and went on to say that if she did that she would thank him for killing the murderer of her parents. She believed deep in her heart that Kira was a hero.

Ryuuzaki looked to the screens, confused. He wasn't sure what he should do next and it was beginning to bug him. _'I don't understand what's going on here,'_ he thought, his dark eyes focusing on the screen.

* * *

Aww, poor L is confused. Anyway, that wraps up chapter fourteen. Review and thanks for reading :D


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note.

* * *

"Kaito, explain to me what is happening because I starting to get confused," Hikari whispered to the shinigami, flopping down on her bed. She was as quiet as possible considering that Ryuuzaki and the other officers were just across the hall.

"It's fairly simple, Hikari. Both Light and Misa have no memory of ever being Kira or second Kira. The reason for this is they both gave up ownership of the Death Note," Kaito explained.

"So, Light isn't playing innocence, he honestly believes that he isn't Kira?"

"Exactly. When the human gives up ownership they lose memory of the note and the deaths they happened to cause. Hmm, I'm guessing this would be the best time to prove to your new friend that Light is Kira." Kaito smirked.

"As good of an idea that it seems, I have a feeling it won't be that simple, especially now. According to Ryuuzaki, Light asked to be confined to prove his innocence, meaning he had to have taken precautions before that. Sure, I could tell Ryuuzaki that Light is Kira but I wouldn't be able to prove it, unless I reveal my Death Note . . ."

"That wouldn't be good."

"Exactly, that would cause big problems for me, including some jail time or possibly execution," she said as she thought about the idea. She sighed, "I have no choice but to pretend that I have no idea what is going on and hope that Light slips up." _'That sounds all good for now, but what I'm really concerned about is Light's reason for doing this in the first place. What is he trying to accomplish by giving up ownership?'_ she looked to the clock, seeing how late it was. _'No more thinking about it, I need sleep.'_ "Night Kaito," she told him as she drifted off.

* * *

"Checkmate, I win again!" Hikari said, smiling excitedly. She and Matsuda were playing chess, well, trying to anyway.

"Only because you understand how to play. Can we play something easier?" Matsuda whined.

"How about Go Fish? Or is that too complicated for you, too?" she teased. Ryuuzaki's eyes shifted over to them as they argued back and forth. "Oh, I know! How about CandyLand? That's the easiest you can get," Hikari told him.

"Oooh, I wanna play. Sounds fun!" Kaito said, overhearing the name.

"We don't have CandyLand," Matsuda replied, "I doubt Ryuuzaki would own a game so childish," he finished. Hikari raised an eyebrow.

Ryuuzaki turned to them. "Actually, that game is kind of fun," he chimed in before turning back to his screens. Hikari grinned at Matsuda then stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, it looks like our only choice is Go Fish," Hikari stated as she shuffled the cards.

"Where did you get those?" Matsuda asked.

"I found them earlier. Now, you playing or not?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied as she dealt the cards.

"I win again!" Hikari said after three consecutive wins. Matsuda looked down in defeat and sighed.

"You know, if Light really turns out to be innocent, I'm suspecting Hikari of being Kira," he said aloud. Hikari looked at him and laughed. Ryuuzaki and Aizawa both looked at her.

"Funny, Matsu. First off, I'm against Kira and everything the bastard stands for. Second, I'm sane, which wouldn't be possible if I was a mass murderer," she stated, crossing her arms. "So, where did you come up with this Kira theory? Was it because I keep beating you at Go Fish and chess?" she asked.

"According to Ryuuzaki, Kira is childish and hates to lose," he informed her.

"Ooh. Well, I'd hate to break it to you, but that quality describes most-if not all- of the human race. I as do most would rather win than lose, it's only human nature, which adds proof to the fact that Kira is human and not a 'God' like he's leading everyone to believe," she replied then shuffled the cards again. "Care for another round? Maybe luck will be in your favor this time and I can suspect you of being Kira," she finished with a smile.

"Alright, you two. Enough, neither one of you is Kira; so, let's just leave it at that," Aizawa said.

"Agreed," the two replied. Hikari sat down on the couch and looked at the screen. Her mind was trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

_'So, according to Kaito, Light and Misa don't remember being Kira or second Kira. This means they gave up ownership of the Death Note. What would be the reason for that though? If he doesn't remember the notebook then how would he ever regain his memories? It doesn't make sense to me.'_ She turned to the newspaper articles claiming that Kira had struck again. She went over it as she sorted through the thoughts in her mind.

* * *

It was around one in the morning. Hikari, unable to think inside the room, decided to sneak out of the room. All the other officers were asleep and Ryuuzaki was too busy watching the screens. Besides, even if he did notice, he probably figured that she was going to her own room. She sat up on the roof, taking in the view of the glittering skyline. She needed a break and knew this was her only way. Her thoughts on the Kira case melted away as she just relaxed in the cool night breeze.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" she turned around and smiled.

"Maybe. Shouldn't you be watching your suspects?" she asked. Ryuuzaki sat down.

"Probably, but they are sleeping. So, I rather doubt anything useful will be said. Unless Light confesses in his sleep," Ryuuzaki said, placing his finger against his lips.

"That would be very interesting, although, I doubt it would ever happen. He doesn't really seem like the kind of person who talks in his sleep."

"I guess. So, what are you doing up here?"

"To help my brain function properly. I just needed some fresh air and some time without thinking about Kira," she replied.

"I understand, after all you were kind of forced into this. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. You're only protecting yourself," she told him.

"Yeah, well," he stood up, "I need to get back to work. Don't stay out here too long."

"Ok. See you in the morning—err well you know what I mean," she said.

He smiled a little, "Yeah. Night Hikari," he said walking back inside the hotel. He walked down the hall and into his room. He made his way over to his chair and sat down, looking back to the screens. As he sat there, Hikari ran through his mind. _'No stop. I don't need any distractions. I'm busy with the Kira case . . . I wonder if she will tell me if Light really is—No! Stop thinking about her, back to the case! Who is calling me?'_

"Ryuuzaki?" Watari called.

"Uh, yes, Watari. What is it?" he asked him.

"First would you like something to eat? And are you alright, Sir?" he asked.

"Yes, strawberry shortcake please and yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask, Watari?"

"Well, because it took you about two minutes to answer."

"Oh, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind," he explained.

"I understand. I'll be out with your shortcake soon, Sir," he replied then walked off.

"Yes, thank you, Watari," Ryuuzaki said, looking back to the screens. _'Hikari, stop distracting me. Now back to the issue of Kira and second Kira.'_

* * *

Fifty days had passed and everyone was beginning to become uneasy with the situation. Ryuuzaki was trying his best to get a confession, but neither would confess. As he would try, Light would get upset while Misa played ignorance. Both were being pushed to the edge and their behavior showed it. They were tired and emotionless.

"They look like zombies," Kaito said as he watched the screen. "Wonder how long L will keep this up. After all, it's pointless if their memories are gone."

Hikari watched the screen, feeling sorry for all three of them. What they were going through looked absolutely horrible and she couldn't imagine herself lasting as long as they were.

Ryuuzaki was eating a cup of ice cream as he continued to observe them. As the time passed, Aizawa explained to Ryuuzaki that he had no reason to keep them confined. Ryuuzaki just listened as he licked ice cream off of his finger as he continued looking at the screen. He continued with his rant, finishing it with, "Ryuuzaki, it's time to start looking for the real Kira."

Ryuuzaki looked to the screen, his onyx eyes staring hard at Light. His eyes lowered down to the remnants of ice cream in his glass. His finger started towards it, but he stopped, gently clinching his fist. "Yes, I understand," he replied. He pressed the switch on the microphone speaking to Light's father. He asked for him to come to headquarters to discuss his thoughts with him. Mr. Yagami agreed and about twenty minutes later arrived at headquarters. Ryuuzaki and he immediately walked away from the others, discussing some sort of plan.

* * *

Three days later  
Ryuuzaki and Hikari watched the screen, seeing Light, Misa, and Mr. Yagami get into a car. Hikari was unaware of what was going on, but had a feeling that it was that Light was cleared now. Ryuuzaki looked at her, and then back to the screen; watching carefully, paying very close attention to the events.

As minutes passed by the three began talking. Light and Misa thought they were being let go, until Mr. Yagami informed them that they were wrong. He told them that they were being taken to their execution. Hikari looked to Ryuuzaki.

"Ryuuzaki, what is the meaning of this, I thought you--" she began.

"Silence, Hikari," he told her, his eyes not leaving the screen.

Hikari was quiet as she looked back to the screen, continuing to listen to the conversation. She noticed that the car stopped. She remained silent as she watched then heard Mr. Yagami say he was going to kill Light then himself after. She saw him pull out a gun, aiming it at Light's forehead.

She gasped in terror, turning away from the screen. The gun fired off. A moment of silence rang through the room as Hikari slowly turned back to the screen. "A blank?" she whispered, noticing that Light was still alive, scared to death, but still alive none the less. A feeling of relief swept over her as she looked to Ryuuzaki. She heard Mr. Yagami ask him something and turned to the screen.

"Yes, it was a convincing performance," Ryuuzaki replied. "If Amane were the second Kira, who only needs to see a person's face to kill them, there is no doubt she would have killed you before you had the chance to fire your weapon. Also, if Light was in fact Kira, the Kira I know wouldn't hesitate to kill even his own father to save himself. With Light in particular, I can not rule out the possibility that he may have seen through our act at some point. However, as we agreed, I will end their confinement immediately. And as we discuss, Amane will remain under surveillance until Kira is apprehended. Although she insists the tapes we found were just occult videos, the physical evidence we have, plus her confession, suggest otherwise," he spoke.

"Hey! No fair! You still suspect me?!" Misa spoke outraged. Mr. Yagami replied to her outrage explaining that she should consider it like police protection.

"As for your part in this agreement, Light, you and I will be together twenty-four-seven and that's how we will remain until we've captured Kira," Ryuuzaki said to him.

"Fine by me, we'll catch Kira together," Light replied.

"Yes, I look forward to working with you," Ryuuzaki said.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note.

* * *

Ryuuzaki sighed, turning away from the screen. "You alright, Hikari? You don't look so good," he spoke, catching her gentle eyes with his captivating gaze. Her eyes diverted from his to the floor as she answered his seemingly worried question.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded, trying to reassure herself more than him, "I mean what can you expect after witnessing that?" she asked.

"Yes, I understand what you mean. I'm sorry if it scared you," he apologized, sounding sincere. She gave a smile as she raised her head, looking back into the mysterious eyes of the detective.

"It's ok, I understand why I couldn't know of the plan," she admitted, feeling guilty.

There was an awkward silence as the two looked at each other for what seemed like hours. The silence was broken as Watari walked toward them, "Ryuuzaki, Miss Tsubasa, I thought you might be hungry," he told them, setting a tray of sweets before them.

"Thank you," Hikari said.

"Oh, thank you, Watari," Ryuuzaki told him as he reached for a plate of strawberry shortcake, unaware that Hikari was reaching for that exact one as well. Ultimately, the two bumped into each other.

"Oh, I'm sorry--" Hikari apologized, pulling away from the plate. Ryuuzaki pulled away as well, looking to her.

"No, I apologize, ladies first," he said to her. She reached for the plate, a soft "thank you" escaping her lips as she pulled away. Her cheeks flushed as she looked down at the plate, not allowing him to see her blush.

He then reached for the other plate and began devouring the delicious dessert. Hikari's orchid eyes shifted to her left as she heard laughter. She turned her attention to the shinigami sitting in the corner.

"Seems someone has a crush on someone," Kaito said to her, snickering a bit afterward. Hikari's cheeks flushed even more and she looked at the shinigami, giving him that "zip it" look. He laughed at this and shook his head, "You're such an interesting person, Hikari," he replied to her actions. She quickly turned away from the shinigami, looking to her dessert. She quickly noticed her reflection in the cold, metal handle of the fork.

_'Ok, Hikari, calm down,'_ she thought as she took a bite from the dessert, closing her eyes as she tried to regain her composure. She took another bite as she began to feel more comfortable. She opened her eyes, seeing Ryuuzaki was looking at her. She blinked, "Um, Ryuuzaki? Why are you looking at me?" she asked, starting to get a little creeped out.

"I'm amazed, here I am starting my third shortcake, yet you haven't even finished your first?" he said, pondering over his observations. Hikari sighed and shook her head.

"You really are a piece of work, Ryuuzaki," she commented.

"Yes, I'm aware of that," he replied, taking a bite of his dessert. Hikari started giggling. He looked at her, wondering why she was randomly laughing, was it something he said? He was confused, "Um . . . Hikari why are you laughing?" he asked. She stopped and took a breath to explain.

"You . . . have a whipped cream mustache . . ." she said between laughs. He wiped the cream off with his finger, licking it from his finger. Hikari shook her head.

"You're a very weird, yet interesting person, Ryuuzaki," she told him.

He finished his dessert, wiping the remnants off of the plate with his finger and licking it off, "Yes, well you aren't so bad yourself, Hikari. In fact . . ." he began to admit but stopped.

"What?" Hikari asked, wanting him to finish his statement.

"Oh, nothing, um, never mind," he said, turning away from her and toward the tray to grab something else to devour. He sighed as he thought about what he was just about to say to her, _'I could possibly be falling for you.'_

Leaving his thoughts he turned to Watari, standing off to the side of the room, "Watari, when will the others be arriving?" he asked, shifting the conversation.

"Any minute now, sir," Watari answered.

"Thank you," Ryuuzaki told him. He remained there, sitting in his odd position, completely silent as he waited for the others to arrive. Hikari stared at him, wondering just what was going through his mind and why he didn't finish his statement. She sighed then returned to finishing the shortcake.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note

* * *

Light and the others soon arrived at the hotel and entered the room. Light paused when he noticed Hikari. "H-Hikari? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"She is one of my newest investigators in the task force, she was chosen based on her intelligence as well as her interest in the Kira case," 'And to help me prove you are Kira but you do not need to know that.' Ryuuzaki explained as he walked over to Light, "now, hold out your hand please, Light," he asked.

Light did as he said and Ryuuzaki placed a handcuff onto his wrist. A long chain came from the handcuff leading to the other cuff which Ryuuzaki placed on his wrist. "Are you sure this is necessary, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked holding up his arm.

"This is as difficult for me as it is for you," he admitted to Light. Misa and Hikari looked at each other and then to Light and Ryuuzaki.

"So, is this what you meant by being together twenty-four hours a day with him? Looking at you I never would have guessed. Are you on that side of the fence, Ryuuzaki?" Misa asked motioning with her arms. Hikari giggled but stopped noticing Ryuuzaki's reaction.

"I told you, I'm not doing this because I want to, ok?" he replied, annoyed by her comments.

Misa began to whine about not being able to go on dates with Light because he was going to be with Ryuuzaki all the time. He quickly informed her that they could still go on dates, but instead of just the two of them it would have to be three. Misa became even more upset by this fact, calling him a pervert. Annoyed, Ryuuzaki asked--more like begged-- Light to make Misa shut up. Ryuuzaki, however, wasn't the only one annoyed, the others were as well.

"That's enough, Misa," Light demanded. Misa turned to him, "The task force is aware that it was you who sent those tapes so you're lucky you're not in prison right now." Shocked by Light's statement, Misa became upset once again. Reminding Light that she was his girlfriend, she explained that he should trust his soul mate. Light was confused, saying that Misa was the one who fell in love with him at first sight.

"Huh?!" She started getting all teary eyed and her voice went even higher than before. Hikari was starting to get a headache from all the high pitched squealing, but she wasn't the only one. "So why would you kiss me if you didn't have feelings for me?! You took advantage of me?!" she started hitting at Light, although it didn't hurt him at all. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"About this love at first sight," Ryuuzaki spoke. Misa stopped and turned to him. "It happened in Aoyama on May 22, didn't it?" he asked, taking advantage of the situation.

"So what?"

"Why the 22nd and tell me, do you remember how you dressed during that occasion?"

"It's like I said! I just happen to go to Aoyama, I don't know why. I don't remember how I felt and I don't even know what I was wearing. Anyway, since when do I need a reason to hang out there? Huh?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

"And somehow, when you came back from Aoyama, you knew you were in love with some guy and that his name was Light?" he mocked her.

"Yes," she replied.

"And you, yourself have no idea how you came to know his name?" he asked.

"Yeah, so what?" she asked getting in his face.

"Tell me, what if Light was Kira? How would it make you feel?" he asked her, focusing on her reaction.

"Huh? How would I feel if Light was Kira?" she asked.

"That's right."

She went back to Light and grabbed his arm, cuddling up to him, "That'd be wonderful. I mean I've always been grateful to Kira for punishing the man who murdered my parents, so if I found out that Light was actually Kira that would be like a bonus for me! If anything it would make me love him even more; even though it's practically impossible to love him more than I already do!"

"Oh brother," Kaito commented dryly. Hikari sighed, shaking her head as she thought the same thing.

"It's Kira though. You'd love him even more for that? I mean wouldn't you be afraid? What if he tried to kill you?" he asked.

"You're talking about Light being Kira? He wouldn't be scary at all. I'm a supporter of Kira; so, if I found out Light was actually him, I'd think of how I could be helpful," she explained to Ryuuzaki all the while holding onto Light's arm.

Ryuuzaki sighed narrowing his eyes, "That's very generous of you, but I'm pretty sure Kira doesn't need your help. Well, Misa, based on what you just told me, there can be no mistake that you are the second Kira. Though you made it so painfully obvious that I don't really want to believe it," he admitted.

"Whatever, it's not believable cause I'm not the second Kira, ok?" she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Anyway, for now, you'll remain under surveillance. When you do go out, if needed, you'll be able to contact us using this room's extension. For the most part, your life will return to normal, but from now on all private and work related affairs, Mr. Matsuda will be accompanying you as your new manager, Matsui. Your agency's been paid to keep quiet and the police don't know, don't blow his cover," he stressed.

"What do you mean this old guy's my manager? You can't be serious!" Misa said.

"Oh, Misa-Misa! What's wrong? Is it the tie cause I can get rid--" Matsuda began but was interrupted by Aizawa.

He stood up, finally having enough of Misa, "Would you cut it out with all this dating, kissing, and Misa-Misa talk, already? This is the Kira investigation, stop messing around!" Mr. Yagami looked at him wide-eyed.

"Sorry, Aizawa," Matsuda apologized, scratching his head.

"No, it's alright, I just figured out what the problem is," he replied walking over to Misa, "Misa Amane, go to your room." he pointed to the door.

"Why?" she asked.

"Out now!" he said pushing her out the door.

"No!" she refused holding the door from closing. "Hey, Light, let's go on a date. I don't care if Ryuuzaki has to go, too!" she said. Aizawa was finally able to close the door leaving Misa outside the room. He sighed.

"Light, are you really serious about her?" Ryuuzaki asked. _'I was thinking the same thing,'_ Hikari thought.

"No way, it's completely one-sided," he admitted.

He turned to Light, "Then could you at least pretend to be serious for the sake of the investigation? There are two things I know about Amane, for sure. One that she's involved in this and two that she's in love with you," he mocked.

"You want me to become intimate with her to gather information about the second Kira?" Light asked.

"Yes, I think you could do it without arousing her suspicions, and Amane would definitely be a valuable source of information for us, not to mention that this is the main reason I agreed to release the two of you," he explained.

"Ryuuzaki? As much as I wanna help you solve this case, I can't manipulate a woman's feelings like that." Ryuuzaki sighed. "Please try to understand. To me, exploiting another person's feelings for personal gain is unforgivable and I won't allow myself to stoop that low."

_'There's something wrong with this picture. It's as if he's a different person now. Is it possible that this is an act? If this is genuine, it not only implies that Amane was being controlled by Kira, but Light Yagami too.'_

"What's wrong, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked, seeing the man stare off into space.

"Um-Nothing. I suppose you're right after all; however, considering Misa is a celebrity, it would be extremely helpful if you could make sure she doesn't leak information on the case," he told him.

"By the way, do you think it's possible to come up with an alternative to this cycle of moving from hotel to hotel every few days?" Light asked.

"Yes, in fact I had that very same thought some time ago and so . . ." he began as he walked over to his laptop, dragging Light along with him, "I arranged for a facility to be built. Construction started right after my first meeting with Mr. Yagami and the others. It should be finished in a few days, hmm-here it is," he said clicking one of the keys.

All the others gasped at the project, "Twenty-three floors above ground and two below. Although it's impossible to see it from the outside, there are two helicopters hidden on the roof."

"What?" Matsuda asked, shocked.

"That's amazing," Light stated.

"Ideally, I want all of us to spend as much time here as possible. If the investigation team grows we can accommodate up to sixty people. Misa shouldn't have any complaints, since she'll have her own floor," Ryuuzaki explained.

"This is truly impressive. To go to such lengths," Light said, shocked by all the work done.

"Ryuuzaki! Where were you able to get the funding for this?" Matsuda asked him.

"As you can see, my intentions are to solve this case no matter what the cost," he replied.

"I'm sorry, but how is that an answer?" Aizawa asked.

"No, he's right. The mass killings are bad enough already, but personally, I will never forgive Kira for putting my dad and I through this. I want to solve this no matter what it takes," Light admitted.

"If you're serious about that then you should try to get close to Misa to find out about the second-" Ryuuzaki persisted.

"I can't, that goes against my principles," Light replied.

"Right, you said that. What a shame," he replied.

Aizawa started to chuckle, but stopped and cleared his throat. "Hmm?" Mr. Yagami turned to him.

"Nothing, I'm just feeling really motivated right now, chief! Ryuuzaki, Chief Yagami, Light, Hikari, lets get out of here and bring Kira to justice," Aizawa replied.

"Uh e-excuse me, I-I couldn't help but notice you missed my name," Matsuda spoke, pointing to himself.

* * *

Poor Matsuda, always left out. Well here's seventeen. Review! X3


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Death Note.

* * *

A few days later at the new hotel  
Hikari yawned as she walked into the main observation room. Ryuuzaki was already up with his usual cup of coffee along with a sucker used to stir it. Light was up as well, but seemed a bit tired, probably due to the fact that Ryuuzaki had a weird way of sleeping--on the rare occassion that he did sleep--so Light was never really able to get a good night's rest. Ryuuzaki looked up when he heard her.

"Oh, hey Hikari, you're up early today. Did you sleep well?" he asked her.

"Yep, best sleep of my life, how's it going with you two?" she asked, sitting down.

"Good," Light responded with a yawn.

"Fine, thanks," Ryuuzaki said then took a sip from his coffee cup. The room was very quiet for Misa wasn't up yet. Hikari and the others enjoyed the silence as much as they could knowing it wouldn't be too long before the spontaneous blonde bounced into the room to greet Light.

As if they knew it would happen they all stared at the door, seeing it open. Just as they thought, it was Misa all dressed and ready to go.

"Light! Good morning! Did you sleep well?" Misa asked as she made her way over to Light.

"It's noon, Misa, not morning," Light answered bluntly. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Misa's whining today.

"So, Light, can we go on a date today, please?!" she asked him.

"Misa, today isn't-" he began.

"Aww, come on, Light. One date won't kill you," Hikari said just to get Misa to not whine about how Light is her boyfriend and that he's supposed to go on dates with her. Ryuuzaki eyes narrowed as they shifted over to her.

"Yeah, see, come on, Light, please?!" she begged him, hugging his arm.

"Fine," Light agreed. Misa squealed in excitement.

* * *

"Come on, Light, let's go," Misa said as she pulled on him. Light reluctantly followed her and unfortunately Ryuuzaki was forced to follow as well. Hikari sat before the monitors, waving to the detective as he left.

"Have fun, Ryuuzaki," she said to him with a smile. He looked at her, in a way giving her that 'traitor' look. She giggled and shook her head as they left the room. She turned to the screen and monitored what happened. It wasn't long before Matsuda and Mr. Yagami walked inside the room and joined her, Aizawa coming in soon after.

"So, where are they?" Aizawa asked as he looked around.

"Oh, they're on a date in Misa-Misa's room," Matsuda said.

"Surveillance cameras, huh? Well, I guess that does make sense considering Misa's connection to the second Kira. And for God's sake, Matsuda, please stop with this damn Misa-Misa crap?!"

"Uh-yeah, sure," Matsuda replied, sounding a little disappointed.

* * *

"Man, this has got to be the lamest date I've ever been on," Misa said, not amused.

"No, no, no, just pretend I'm not even here, ok. By the way, are you gonna eat that piece of cake?" Ryuuzaki asked as he held a fork in his mouth.

"Cake makes you fat! So, I'm definitely not going to eat any of it," Misa replied.

"Actually, I found that you don't gain any weight as long as you burn calories using your brain," he said to her reply.

"Hmm! So now you're calling me stupid?! Fine then, I'll give you the piece of cake if you go away and leave me and Light alone!" she demanded.

"Even if I leave, I'll still be watching on surveillance cameras. So there's really no difference," he retorted.

* * *

Hikari shook her head as she listened to them on camera. Kaito's eyes were glued to the screen as he looked at the piece of cake. "Cake, must have it," he said, pressing his face against the screen.

_'Dammit, Kaito! Move your big, fat head! I can't see!'_ she thought, unable to really do anything about the shinigami blocking her view.

* * *

"You pervert! Could you stop it with your creepy hobby?!" Misa asked Ryuuzaki.

"You can call me whatever you like, last time for cake," he said as he stood up on the couch and stepped onto the table with one foot as he reached for the plate of cake.

"Ok then, I'll just close the curtains and turn off all the lights," Misa said happily.

"We have infrared cameras in here, as well," he said and took a bite of his cake. Kaito growled as he moved away from the camera and over to the corner.

Noticing a change in Ryuuzaki, Light turned to him, asking him what was wrong with him and why he hadn't been motivated lately. He replied to his question with the fact that he was depressed.

"Ryuuzaki, why are you depressed?" Light asked.

"Well, to be honest, I thought that you were Kira and my entire case ended on that fact," he said chewing another piece of cake. He swallowed before finishing his explanation. "I guess it's just impossible for me to come to the conclusion that my deduction was wrong. Don't get me wrong, I'm still suspicious of you; hence, why we are wearing these handcuffs," he said lifting up his chained wrist.

He went on explaining his reasoning that Light and Amane were Kira and that he recently discovered that Kira's power passes through people. He finished with saying that it didn't matter what they do, even if they arrest another Kira that person will no doubt lose memories and they'd be going in an endless cycle.

Light replied by telling him that they don't know if that is a solid truth or not then continued by telling him to cheer up.

"Cheer up? No, I'm sorry. It's impossible. I should probably stop trying so hard. I mean by going after Kira, we're risking our lives for absolutely nothing. I guess this is just all a waste of time and energy," he admitted. Light stood up.

"Ryuuzaki?" he said. He turned to Light, who unexpectedly punched him in the face, sending him flying across the room. Light was pulled along with him. Misa screamed, backing up, stepping in the piece of cake that fell to the floor. She desperately tried to wipe off the remnants of the cake as Light and Ryuuzaki continued their assault.

He sat up, "That really hurt, ya know," he said to Light.

"That's enough! You don't feel like doing anything just because your genius deduction was wrong and I'm not Kira!?" Light asked. Ryuuzaki wiped his mouth.

"Fine, perhaps I phrased that the wrong way. I meant it would be pointless for us to make a move; so, we shouldn't even bother," he replied.

"If we don't chase Kira, he'll never be caught. Is that what you want? If you were just gonna give up then why did you involve all those innocent people. More importantly, what was the point of putting Misa and me behind bars?" Light asked as he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him toward him.

"I understand, but still, whatever the reason," he pulled away and kicked Light directly in the jaw, "an eye for an eye, my friend." As the chain tightened it sent them both flying across the room. Both landed on the couch, causing it to fall backwards.

"It's not my deduction that was wrong. The fact is I can say Light Yagami is Kira and Misa Amane is the second Kira, but it won't be enough to solve the case and that's why I'm a little depressed. Is that so unreasonable to you?" he asked.

"Yes! Yes it is, besides you should hear yourself. It's as if you won't be satisfied unless I am Kira," Light growled.

"I-I won't be satisfied unless you're Kira? Well, there maybe some truth to that. In fact, now that you mention it, you're right, I think I wanted you to be Kira," he admitted. Light punched him yet again. Ryuuzaki stood his ground.

"As I said before, an eye for an eye. I'm a lot stronger than I look, ya know," he growled then spun around kicking Light in the jaw yet again.

* * *

"We gotta call the room and get them to stop!" Matsuda spoke. As the two were about to hit each other again, the telephone rang. Ryuuzaki answered it and Matsuda went on saying something about Misa's popularity in a magazine in order to get them to quit fighting. It worked and the two of them finally calmed down.

Hikari and the others sighed. "Well, that was interesting to say the least," she said.

"At least it's over now," Matsuda replied. The others nodded in agreement.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Ok, this is where the plot kind of drifts away from the series, hopefully it's good. I'm trying to get back into the habit of updating this more often, which will be difficult thanks to college and my other story that I'm posting as well. Next chapter for that one will be out soon, btw. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy :3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note.

* * *

Over the next two months, the task force looked over the deaths, trying to find a lead in the case.

"Here's another list. This brings this months total up to about three fifty deaths," Matsuda said, looking over a death report.

"All these deaths and we still don't have a lead," Aizawa replied.

"Here are some more reports," Light said, setting down a new stack.

Matsuda groaned as he looked at the stack. _'It never ends.' _He looked over to Hikari. She was sitting before a computer, seemingly staring at a screen as she listened to an MP3 player. _'Why can't she help us out with this?'_ he thought.

_'This is getting us absolutely nowhere. There has to be something to prove that this is a different Kira and strengthen Ryuuzaki's theory that Light is--err well used to be Kira.'_ Hikari continued to sit before the computer, deep in thought. Not taking her eyes from the screen, she mumbled, "This is a different Kira . . ." She removed her ear phones as she looked over her theory one more time.

Convinced that she was correct, she turned to her right, expecting to see Ryuuzaki. He, however, was not there. She raised an eyebrow as she looked around the room. _'Where the hell could he possibly be, after all, Light's right there so he can't go very far--huh?'_ She noticed that Light was handcuffed to the chair. _'That's just great,'_ she sighed then left the room, searching for the missing detective.

She walked down the halls, eventually running into him. He was walking out of the kitchen with a sucker in his mouth. "Ryuuzaki, you know it's easier to find you when you're handcuffed to Light? Anyway, I realized something that you might find interesting and it could possibly prove that Light is Kira." They walked back to the main room as those words registered into his mind.

"I'm listening," he replied, looking at her.

"We're dealing with a different Kira," she handed him a report; "The first Kira killed criminals only and or anyone who stood in his way. Because of that fact, we've only been looking at criminal deaths not realizing that others were being killed too--namely powerful producers in the movie industry. What backs up this theory is that these deaths have only happened right after Kira began killing again. That then brings us to who is responsible for this. To determine this I relied on charts which indicated what producing company is benefiting from all of the killings. That company is Hana Productions," she finished, proud of her discovery.

Ryuuzaki scanned through the report then looked at her. "Excellent work, Hikari," he replied as they made their way into the main room. He walked back to his chair and placed the handcuff back onto his wrist. He turned to the others, "I need a list of all employees of Hana Productions."

"Hana Productions? Why?" Matsuda questioned.

"Because we have a lead," Hikari answered. He turned to her.

"You serious? When did this happen?" he asked.

"When I learned that Hana Productions was benefiting from Kira's deaths," Hikari replied, holding up the report.

"How is a movie producing company benefiting from the death of criminals?" Matsuda asked. Light grabbed the report, looking over it.

"Because Kira's killing off the competitors. Wow, I don't see how we missed this. Good work, Hikari," Light said to her.

"Thanks," she replied, happy that she was able to help further the investigation. Ryuuzaki turned to her.

"Hikari, I'm going to need a report on how and when each of the victims died," he told her.

She nodded, "Alright, coming right up." She quickly went to work, getting everything that Ryuuzaki needed.

While she was doing this, Mr. Yagami and Mr. Mogi returned from their meeting with the director of the NPA. Due to Kira's recent bribes, the police were no longer allowed to be involved in the Kira case. This included even the Kira task force officers.

After a long discussion over the matter as well as some tension, Matsuda, Mogi, and Yagami decided to resign and stay with the task force. Aizawa, who became fed up by the way Ryuuzaki did things, remained an officer and left the Kira task force.

Mr. Mogi and Mr. Yagami gathered the list of employees from Hana. "Hey, Ryuuzaki, I just found something else," Light said, looking at the deaths over Hikari's shoulder. "All the deaths take place around the weekends," he informed him. Ryuuzaki rolled his chair over to them, looking at the deaths.

"You're right."

"Here, Ryuuzaki, a report on each death." Hikari handed the pages to him.

"Thank you," he replied, looking over the deaths.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki? Is there anything I can do to help with the investigation?" Matsuda asked.

Ryuuzaki's eyes shifted over to him, "So, you want to be useful?" he asked.

"Yes!" Matsuda replied.

"Well then Matsuda, could you get me another cup of coffee?" he asked, holding out the cup. Matsuda took the cup and sighed as he walked off to the kitchen. "Oh and get some for our guests as well." Matsuda stopped and turned around to see who Ryuuzaki was talking about.

"Where did they come from?" Hikari asked as she and Light turned to the two people sitting on the sofa. It was a man and a woman.

"Name's Wedy. I'm a thief by trade," the woman said. She had blonde hair and wore sunglasses over her eyes.

"Name's Aiber, a con-man," the man spoke. He had blonde hair as well.

"A con-man and a thief? Are you sure it's a good idea to work with criminals?" Light asked.

"Consider them more like agents of the underworld. They have never been caught so Kira doesn't know their identity; therefore, they are in no danger. Aiber's nature makes it easy for infiltration and getting close to targets while Wedy is able to get passed any security system; hence, how she got inside without being noticed," Ryuuzaki explained then ate a strawberry as he went back to his computer screen.

* * *

"So, what is the plan now? I mean we can't just walk up to the producers and demand them to tell us where Kira is," Hikari asked.

"True, besides there is a chance that one of them is Kira or someone very close to Kira. If Kira was to learn of this he would kill everyone involved and we would no longer have a lead," Ryuuzaki said.

"So, we need some kind of way to get information from them, without them knowing," Light said, "What about someone going undercover?"

"Misa's a celebrity. She can do it!" Matsuda piped up.

"No, unfortunately, Misa is under contract with Yoshida productions. It could cause problems if she switched. Besides, this is Misa we are speaking about and I doubt she would make a great undercover spy for us," Ryuuzaki replied dryly. He took a sip of coffee. "We need someone who understands the importance of the mission, but is able to pull this off."

"And where do you expect to find a person like that?" Hikari asked. Ryuuzaki turned and looked at her as a light bulb went off in his head. The others turned to her as well.

"That just might work," Ryuuzaki said.

Hikari raised an eyebrow, "Why are you all staring at me like that--no! Ryuuzaki, whatever you are planning, no!" she shouted, glaring at all of them.

"Come on, Hikari. You're our only chance," Light said, trying to persuade her.

"No! I think you should all listen to Matsuda and get Misa to do this! I'm not stooping down and turning into a spoiled, little, rich, movie star brat. No offense to Misa, wherever the annoying little blonde is," Hikari replied, crossing her arms.

"Hikari, this is kind of important," Ryuuzaki said.

"I'm aware of that, but I don't wanna do this. First off, I'm not celebrity material. Second, I can't act—"

Light scoffed, "Please, you got the main roles in high school plays," he reminded her.

"Oh really?" Ryuuzaki asked.

"Quiet, Light! That was high school! This is the real world! There is a difference! A huge one." Kaito was laughing his ass off, listening to Hikari make up different excuses.

"It won't be that bad, Hikari, just try it," Ryuuzaki said.

"You might as well just agree cause they're gonna make you do it anyway," Kaito told her. She sighed, knowing he was right.

"Fine, I'll do it," she said, defeated.

"Good. Come, Light, lets get Misa in here," Ryuuzaki said rising to his feet.

"Huh? What do we need Misa for?" Hikari asked, watching as he walked off, dragging Light along with him.

He turned around to her, "We need to make you at least a little presentable," he replied.

Matsuda snickered. Hikari glared at him then looked at Ryuuzaki, "That's cold, Ryuuzaki!" she said.

"I assure you that I didn't mean it that way. I was referring to the fact that you have no idea how to act as a celebrity. Misa can probably help with that," he said, walking off.

Hikari sighed then looked to Matsuda, "Do you want me to hit you?" She narrowed her eyes at him. He shook his head. "Then I suggest you stop laughing," she growled. He stopped. "Thank you."

Ten minutes later, Ryuuzaki and Light returned with Misa. "Misa has agreed to help in any way that she can. Hikari, we're giving you a week to get everything down; mainly, because your interview appointment is on that date. If you're a quick learner it should be a fairly simple request. Let's begin," Ryuuzaki said, sitting down.

Misa looked at Hikari, "Misa has a lot of work to do." Hikari growled at her statement. Misa turned to Light and Ryuuzaki, "Um, considering that appearance is everything, we're gonna need to go shopping."

"What's wrong with my appearance?!" Hikari asked.

"Nothing for a normal person, but to be a celebrity you need to look a little more like . . . me!" Misa said excitedly.

"Oh lord," Hikari mumbled.

Ryuuzaki turned to Matsuda, "Considering you are Misa's manager, you will be the one to escort them."

Matsuda sighed, "Ok, let's go." He and the girls left the headquarters, not returning from their shopping spree until later on that evening. Misa walked inside the main room first, still as hyper as before. Hikari was behind her, completely worn out. Matsuda walked in three minutes after them, almost dead and carrying all of their bags.

"Alright, now that we have that done, now it's time for the training!" Misa said, ecstatically.

"M-Misa, I'm tired. Can we start training tomorrow?" Hikari asked.

"Absolutely not. Ryuuzaki gave you a deadline and you are gonna work hard until you get there, Missy. No complaining, now let's get to work," Misa said dragging Hikari off down the hall.

"Help me!" Hikari whispered loudly.

Ryuuzaki and the others watched as the two left the room. "Hey, uh, Ryuuzaki? I don't think you have to worry about Kira trying to kill you. You should be more worried about what Hikari does after all this," Light said.

"What have I done?" Ryuuzaki asked himself a bit scared of what was going on.

A few minutes later, Misa returned, "Ryuuzaki, can I borrow some of your sugar cubes? Hikari won't stay awake."

"Misa, you don't borrow sugar cubes, you eat them and how about a cup of coffee instead?" Ryuuzaki asked, sitting before his computer.

"Sure, anything to keep her awake as long as it's not too fattening cause then she'll have to run it off," Misa replied.

"O . . . k, I'll ask Watari to deliver it to you ASAP," Ryuuzaki said. Misa said ok then left the room to continue with Hikari's training.

The next few days were filled with rigorous training and barely any sleep for Hikari. She spent the morning listening to Misa explain then, after eating a light breakfast that Misa picked out, they worked out in a gym that Ryuuzaki didn't even know he had.

Ryuuzaki sat at his computer, staring at the screens as he ate a box of doughnuts. Light was sitting beside him, looking over the list of employees. Both turned when they heard the door open, seeing Hikari walk inside.

"Hey, Hikari, how's it going?" Ryuuzaki asked, slightly teasing her.

"Horrible. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm sore. My feet are killing me and I really want a bubble bath." she replied, flopping down on the sofa.

"Doughnut?" Ryuuzaki held it out to her.

"And have to do three hundred more push ups? Hell no," she told him. Light was laughing. "Not funny, Light," she growled.

"Hikari?" They heard Misa call.

"Oh no, hide me!" She jumped behind the couch, staying as quiet as possible.

"Is it really that bad?" Ryuuzaki asked.

"How about I put you in high heels and see how you feel after walking around in them for countless hours," Hikari replied in a semi whisper.

"No, thank you," he replied.

Misa walked into the room. She already knew where Hikari was; so, she made her way to the couch and pulled her out of the room.

* * *

The task force members were sitting in the main room, discussing the case. Misa entered the room, patiently waiting for everyone's attention. Everyone turned around seeing her standing there. "Misa is exhausted after her long week of hard work and here is the finished product," she said excited. She stepped aside allowing Hikari to finally enter the room.

**A/N:** yes, I always cut off at the most convenient places, anyway. I hope you guys liked that cause it was kind of fun to write. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.

**Siean Horoc:** I'm glad you love it so far. Hope you enjoy the rest as well :D

**SomeOtherPerson:** Yeah, I've kind of noticed that too. I'll try to add in a little more interaction in the future. As for L's death, well you'll just have to wait and see.


	20. Chapter Twenty

Ok, so I wasn't able to get this up as quick as I would have liked and I'm sorry. As you could tell from the last one, the next few chapters will be drifted away from the series. My reasoning behind this, I wanted to be creative for a change. Besides following the original plot exactly can be a little dull sometimes, since everyone already knows what is going to happen. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Hopefully this is alright. Enjoy! Oh and before I forget...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note!

* * *

Hikari walked inside the room, dressed in a black, ruched dress with a sweetheart neckline and cascading, mesh ruffles. She wore three inch heel, ankle-strap sandals that matched her dress and a silver chain bracelet along with silver hoop earrings. Her hair was left down with a few curls at the ends.

"Thanks to my work, Hikari looks, acts, and walks just like a celebrity," Misa informed. They all stared at her, amazed at how well Misa actually did. Even Ryuuzaki was shocked.

"W-wow, Misa, she looks amazing--err, not that you didn't look good before, Hikari, heh-heh," Matsuda said scratching his head nervously, trying his best not to get hit by her.

"Good work, Misa, now it's time to proceed to step two," Ryuuzaki said, turning around to his computer. He pulled up a file. "Hikari, this is your new records and resume. You will go by the name Mina Hikaru. Oh and to help out a bit more, you are a strong Kira supporter," he explained.

"Great, just what I always wanted to be," she said, sarcastically.

Ryuuzaki sighed, "This is very important. It will help us either discover who Kira is or who is working with him. Try not to screw it up, please," he replied.

"Sorry, Ryuuzaki, I was only kidding. I know the importance of this and I promise you that I'll do my best," she said. Ryuuzaki explained the plan and prepared everyone for the following events later that day.

"Ok, this is it. Hopefully everything will go smoothly," Hikari said looking out the car window at the building. She turned to the front of the car, "What are you doing?" she asked Matsuda, who was busy putting on a fake moustache and sunglasses that reminded her of a secret agent.

"Creating a disguise. I'm also Misa Misa's manager and if someone noticed that, it could cause problems." She was shocked.

"Wow, I'm surprised that you are thinking this far ahead, Matsuda." Kaito started laughing.

"Ha ha, very funny and it is Matsuyama while we are here," he replied, "Here, Ryuuzaki said to put this on." He handed her a silver chained pendant and an earpiece.

"A necklace and an earpiece, nice combination," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"It contains a microphone and the earpiece is so that you can hear me," she heard Ryuuzaki say from the car radio.

"Oh, that makes sense," she replied, putting on the necklace and placing in the earpiece. It wasn't obvious thanks to her hair covering it.

"Can you hear me?" Ryuuzaki spoke through the earpiece.

"Loud and clear," Hikari replied.

"Did Matsuda hear it?" he then asked.

"Loud and clear what?" Matsuda asked.

"That's a negative on him hearing that," Hikari replied.

"Good, then the device is working properly. Alright, without any further questions or comments, let's proceed," Ryuuzaki said.

"Alright," Hikari replied then turned to Matsuda, "time to go." Matsuda nodded, getting out of the car. He walked around to the other side, opening the door for Hikari.

They entered the building, stopping at the front desk of the building. "May I help you?" the receptionist asked. She was in her early thirties with light, blonde hair pulled tightly into a neat bun. She wore black rimmed glasses and a black dress suit.

"Yes, I have Miss Mina Hikaru here for her interview with Mr. Hana," Matsuda said.

"Alright, Mr. Hana is in a meeting and should be out shortly, please take a seat," the receptionist replied. Hikari and Matsuda left the receptionist, sitting down to wait.

Within the next ten minutes, Mr. Hana walked into the room, introducing himself to Hikari and Matsuda. He was a well groomed elderly man, most likely in his early sixties; graying hair and glasses. Ryuuzaki and the others listened as the interview began. Hikari was asked series of questions concerning her experience and her willingness to work. "She's perfect. She might be even bigger than Misa Misa," one of the producers said.

They heard what the man had said and Light snickered. "What!?" Misa shouted, "Bigger than Misa?! All of this is because of Misa! I practically created her! She can't surpass the teacher!" Misa was outraged.

"Misa, please calm down. There is no need to get so upset," Ryuuzaki replied.

* * *

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought is would be," Hikari said with a smile, flopping down on the sofa in the main room. She had already changed out of her "celebrity clothes" as she called them and back in her usual blue jeans and shirt. The only ones in the room were her, Light, and Ryuuzaki.

"You did quite well, Hikari. Better than I expected anyway. Good Job," Ryuuzaki told her, still facing his computer.

She sat up, straightening her posture, "So, what do I need to do next?"

"Well, for the time being just act like a celebrity. As you are doing that though I want you to keep a constant watch over the people around you. Considering we have no lead as to who Kira could be it would be best to consider everyone at the Production agency a suspect," he explained. After finishing, he bit into one of his chocolate covered strawberries. He looked at the remaining strawberry for a second then tossed the rest into his mouth.

"Sounds good." She yawned, rising to her feet, "Well, I'm off to bed. I have a busy week ahead. Night, Ryuuzaki. Light."

"Goodnight," Ryuuzaki replied, continuing onto his next snack.

"Night, Hikari," Light replied, who looked as if he was about to fall asleep himself. Hikari did feel a little sorry for him. After all, Ryuuzaki rarely slept and if he did it was only for a short period of time. This in short made it quite difficult for Light to get any sleep at all. He had managed a few times to pull either the sofa or a comfortable chair closer, allowing him to get at least a few hours of sleep. If the sofa was not in reach of the chain than he just laid his head on the table and tried to sleep.

Hikari took the elevator to her floor, too tired to take to stairs. Arriving at her stop, she exited and walked into her room. She didn't even bother with the lights, knowing she would just turn them off once again. After changing into her pajamas, she flopped down on the bed, falling asleep instantly.

* * *

Well, not the best of chapters and certainly not the longest. I'll try to get the next on up ASAP. Anyway, you know what to do... Review :3 please and thank you!

-Reaper


	21. Chapter Twenty One

Not much to say except I hope you enjoy :3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note

* * *

The next few days consisted in Hikari having a photo shoot while learning parts for an upcoming small film. She had to admit that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It was a very busy job, but still fun, none the less. Soon after Hikari was hired, Ryuuzaki had Wedy set up surveillance and wire taps all over the building, especially in the head board room of the building.

After finishing up for the day, she was introduced to Mr. Hana's son. "Mina, I would like you to meet my son—" Mr. Hana began.

"Kenichi Hana," the man next to him spoke, reaching her hand and kissing it. This made Hikari blush a little, but she managed to regain her composure. "It's a pleasure to meet the gorgeous Mina Hikaru," he finished with a smile. He was possibly in his early twenties maybe a little older, very attractive. He was tall with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. Sharply dressed and well groomed much like his father.

"The pleasure is mine," Hikari replied. She had a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach, a strange feeling telling her to stay away from this guy. He seemed way too nice. She pushed the idea out of her head thinking that she was just being paranoid about having every person she met here being a suspect.

They continued to talk until the man received a phone call. He excused himself then walked off as he answered the call. Mr. Hana left soon after, following his son after saying good bye to Hikari and Matsuda.

"Well, he seems nice," Matsuda said.

"Yeah . . . A little too nice," she murmured as she continued to watch the young man.

"Huh? What?" Matsuda asked, not hearing her clearly.

"Nothing. It's getting late and I'm tired. Let's go," Hikari said with a yawn.

Matsuda nodded, "Yeah," he walked of towards the car with Hikari following behind.

"So, which one of those two do you think is Kira?" Kaito asked Hikari, knowing good and well she couldn't answer him. However, that wasn't why he had asked her. He only said it as a clue to help her with the case.

_'Between those two? So it's definitely between Mr. Hana and his son. Thanks Kaito, that really helps out, I'll give you a piece of candy later,' _Hikari thought.

* * *

Hikari was sitting at one of the computers, looking up records on Mr. Hana and his son. _'There has to be something here that can clue me in to which one is more likely to be Kira. Huh? That's odd . . . Mr. Hana is a known Kira supporter while his son is the total opposite. That would lean it more toward Mr. Hana, but he's too nice to be a killer? Arg, that's what they want you to think. Focus Hikari! Ok . . .'_ she was snapped from her thoughts when she heard her name called.

"Hikari?"

"Huh? Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

"You alright? You look a little stressed," he told her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, guess just a little tired, but other then that perfectly fine," she replied with a fake smile. He wasn't really satisfied with her reply, but didn't persist in asking her. He knew that if something was wrong she would admit it when she was ready. He turned back to his computer as a W appeared on the screen.

"Ryuuzaki?" Watari said from the computer.

"Yes, Watari. What is it?" he replied.

"Eraldo Coil just received a private request to investigate and reveal the identity of L," Watari answered.

"I see," Ryuuzaki said, not even remotely shocked by this news.

"Eraldo Coil? Isn't he the second greatest detective in the world? Right after L, himself?" Mr. Yagami asked.

"Who made that request?" Light asked.

"The man who sought out Coil's services was Co-producer at Hana Productions, Mr. Ichiro Takeshi," Watari explained.

"This adds even more proof that Hana Productions is linked with Kira," Matsuda spoke. Hikari just listened as she thought back to when she met all of the producers.

"This isn't good, we're already limited as it is and no w we have to worry about Coil, too," Mr. Yagami said. Ryuuzaki just continued to eat his usual sweets as if nothing was wrong. Hikari was starting to wonder how the hell he could act so calm when someone was trying hard to reveal his identity.

"No, it's quite alright. The detective known as Eraldo Coil is me," Ryuuzaki replied casually. Hikari just stared at him while everyone else was taken by surprise. "It's quite simple really. Three of the greatest detectives in the world: L, Coil, and Danuve. They're all actually me. It's been my experience that people who try to find me usually fall for this," he finished.

"Impressive as always, Ryuuzaki," Light said.

"So, what will you do about Mr. Takeshi?" Hikari asked.

"Good question," Ryuuzaki spoke, tossing a strawberry into his mouth. He swallowed, "I will have Aiber act as Coil, he'll contact Takeshi and discuss the terms for him investigating the identity of L," he continued to explain as he poured chocolate syrup onto his bowl full of ice cream and sprinkles. Hikari swore Kaito was about to go nuts and take it from Ryuuzaki.

"Hikari, I need sugar. It's been so long since I've last had anything sweet," Kaito said to her as he drooled, watching Ryuuzaki consume the dessert.

_'Geez, Kaito! Close your mouth. I swear you and Ryuuzaki make me sick to my stomach sometimes. You with your drooling over his desserts and Ryuuzaki with his continuous sweet consumption.' _Hikari thought then sighed.

After Ryuuzaki finished with all his explanations, Hikari went up to her room, stopping by the kitchen first for something to eat. Leaving the kitchen she took a small chocolate bar with her. Once confined in her room, she set the chocolate on the small table, "There Kaito, that's for that little hint you gave me earlier," she whispered to the shinigami.

He chuckled, "I was hoping you would catch that," he told her as he grabbed the chocolate. Hikari sighed then made her way to her bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

Hikari returned from Hana Productions at her usual time, walking in after Matsuda in an unusually slow pace. Ryuuzaki watched her as she flopped down onto the sofa, seeing her expressionless look. He sighed knowing that it was because what had happened earlier.

_"A-a date?" Hikari acting as Mina asked as she looked at Kenichi Hana who stood before her with an attractive smile that sent a chill down her spine and not in a good way in her opinion._

_He chuckled, "Why yes, that is if you aren't busy, let's say tomorrow?" he asked._

_She stood there a moment, seeming as if she was thinking over her decision when in actuality she was listening to Ryuuzaki through her ear piece. "Hikari, this is completely your decision. As much as I would like to admit that this could help us get a step closer to Kira, I don't want you forced into a dangerous situation. Think over all your options before making your final decision," Ryuuzaki spoke to her. She took a deep breath, deciding what she would do._

_"Sure, I won't be too busy tomorrow. Sounds great," she replied to the man._

"Hikari, you alright? You seem a bit nervous," Ryuuzaki asked her.

"She's probably nervous about that date," Matsuda spoke, snickering.

Hikari let out a frustrated growl and hit him upside the head, "Can it, Matsu!" she snapped at him, crossing her arms as she closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. Matsuda stood up from the couch and sat down on the other one, trying to keep himself from getting hit again.

"Heh-heh, sorry, Hikari," he said, scratching his head nervously.

"Well, someone has a temper tonight," Light mocked. She growled again, glaring at Light.

"Light, I really don't think that is a good ide-" Ryuuzaki began only to be cut off by Hikari.

"You want some, too?" she asked clinching her fist up at Light. With that she rose to her feet and left the room.

"Whoa, scary," Kaito chuckled then followed behind her.

"Wow, I've never seen her like that before," Light said. He felt the pull of the chain and looked to Ryuuzaki, only to find himself chained to a chair, "Hey?! Ryuuzaki, where are you going?"

"I'll be back, don't go anywhere, Light," Ryuuzaki replied as he walked towards the elevator with his hands in his pockets.

"Where exactly do you think I will go with a chair following me?" Light questioned but only received the closing of the elevator door as an answer.

Hikari sighed laying down on the couch in her room. Her eyes gazed up to the ceiling, unaware of the presence in her room. "There's no reason for you to be nervous," a voice spoke to her. Her eyes shifted over to the chair across the room, seeing Ryuuzaki sitting there, looking at her.

She sat up, "I'm not nervous," she proclaimed.

"Are you trying to prove that to me or yourself?" he asked, placing his thumb against his lips.

He looked at him fro a moment and sighed as she looked to the ground, "both, I guess," she admitted softly.

"Yes, I do believe I had a feeling you'd say that. So, what, if I may ask, are you so nervous about?" he asked, observing her as he awaited her reaction.

"Well . . . I know it sounds stupid, but I guess I'm just nervous about that date. I'm just not really comfortable around people I can't exactly trust," she admitted.

"Ah, I see, but if you were aware of this why did you agree with the date to begin with?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to do whatever I can to stop Kira, Ryuuzaki; even if that means dating a complete stranger to find out who Kira is. In the end it will all be worth it," she said, her eyes still looking to the ground, but a small smile played at her lips. Her eyes looked from the floor to the detective, "Thank you, Ryuuzaki," she told him, still smiling.

He tilted his head to the side, "For what?" he asked her innocently.

"For helping me clear my mind, giving me someone to talk to, thank you for that," she told him.

"You're welcome, I'm glad to be of some help," he replied as he stood up. He started toward the door, "Better get back before Light begins whining about being chained to a chair," he said. Hikari giggled at his statement, imagining that little scenario in her head.

"Hey, um, Ryuuzaki?"

"Hmm, yes?"

"Do you really still believe Light could be Kira, even after everything that's happened?" she asked. He turned to her, not really sure where that question came from.

"Yes, I do still believe that. I know that it's hard for you to really accept that possibility considering he's a friend, but something is telling me that I'm not wrong in suspecting him. Why do you ask, anyway?" he asked.

"Uh-no reason, I was just wondering," she stated. He seemed satisfied with that answer and continued back to the main room, shutting Hikari's door behind him. Hikari sighed as she looked back to the ceiling.

"You want to tell him the truth, don't you?" Kaito spoke from the corner of the room.

_'I only wish he knew how right he was,'_ she thought to herself, not answering Kaito.

* * *

I know she should tell him so that the truth can finally be revealled and all that but that's just too easy and the stroy would end way too fast. So I'm going to torture people a little longer. Oh and I just couldn't resist handcuffing Light to a chair and for some reason I can imagine him walking around, dragging the chair behind him. As much as I hate him sometimes, poor Light. Anywhoo, you know what to do... Review :3 hey that rhymed!... Ok, I'm gonna shut up now...

-Reaper


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

Sorry it took so long to get this one out, but I've had a rather busy week. This one and the next one were very fun to write. They were alot better when I played them out in my mind, so sorry if it's not the best. Anyway, hope you enjoy and don't forget to review. Oh and thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated with it.

* * *

"Ok, well here goes nothing," Hikari said, stepping out from the building where she was waiting on her date for the evening.

"Good, just take a deep breath and relax. Just act . . . like Misa when she's on one of her dates," Ryuuzaki spoke.

"So you want me to act immature and annoying," Hikari asked quietly, laughing a bit.

"Very funny!" Hikari heard Misa shout.

"She's only being honest, Misa," Ryuuzaki replied then returned his attention to Hikari, "Anyway, be careful and try not to blow your cover."

"Ryuuzaki, did anyone ever tell you that you worry too much?" she asked then walked towards the black sports car that just drove up to the front of the building.

* * *

The two of them went to a nice restaurant, spending most of the time during the meal in conversations concerning random things such as a favorite movie or book. During the dessert somehow the topic went from that to Kira. "So, Mina, I hear that you're a Kira supporter," Kenichi asked her.

"Why yes, I am, what about you?" she replied casually, trying hard not to make it obvious that she wasn't.

"No, I really don't believe Kira is justified by his killings. Sure, they are only criminals, but still, it doesn't seem right in my eyes . . . my father sees him differently," he admitted.

"Ah, so you're an L supporter then?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. So, Mina, tell me, why did you choose to support Kira? Make a believer out of me, if you're lucky you might just change my opinion," he said to her with a smirk.

"Well, in my honest opinion, I believe what Kira is doing is good. There are so many bad people in this world that are corrupting the innocent. Sure he may be killing people, but he's doing this only to help those in need. He has good intentions," Hikari replied.

"I guess that does make sense, although, I still believe Kira's wrong in his thinking. Now, if he was able to bring people back, such as victims in crimes, then maybe I might be able to believe in him and think of him as some god, but not with all this killing stuff. He seems to be scaring people for their lives more than actually helping protect the innocent," Kenichi replied. The conversation soon took a turn from Kira into more work related topics.

"My father wants me to take over for him as soon as he retires, but I'm not to sure if I really want to. Sure the pay is worth it and I know everyone in the business but I'm not really sure if the movie industry is something I had in mind as a lifetime career," he said.

"Oh, so, what do you want to do?" she asked, acting interested.

"Well, I really want to go to med school to become a doctor," he replied.

"That's interesting, sounds like a very exciting job, plus rewarding cause you're helping people," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure my dad would approve of that, he'd probably say 'Now Kenichi, our family has been in the movie business for generations' or something along those lines," he said as they laughed. "I'm serious, though, he probably would say something like that, especially after the odd growth in the business over the past few weeks," he said thinking about it.

"Finally, something we can work with," Light said. Ryuuzaki just sat quietly, listening to the conversation intently.

"Odd growth?" Hikari questioned.

"Yeah, usually our business rises and falls normally depending on how great we're doing, but lately I've been noticing a weird trend in the charts. Our production company has been rising drastically while everyone else's has fallen quite significantly. I had a weird feeling, but it seemed too far fetch to me," he admitted.

"Hikari, try to get out as much information as possible without looking too suspicious," Ryuuzaki said to her.

_'Got it, Ryuuzaki'_ she thought, "What exactly?" she asked, curious.

"Well, I know this sounds pretty impossible, but I think that Kira might be one of the producers," he said to her.

"Really? Why would you think that though, it could just be that you guys could be doing very well in sales and movie deals" she said.

"Well, that could be possible, but it wouldn't explain the deaths," he said.

"Deaths?"

"Yes, you see, every one of those production companies lost executives and head producers, not only that, but soon after, Hana production got their clients and all the deals that they had just received. It kind of strikes me at more than a coincidence, don't you think?"

Hikari shrugged, "I'm not sure, I guess you do have a point though, but why would Kira want to help out with a movie company? What would his reasons be?"

"That's why I think it's one of the head producers of the company. In fact that's probably the best place for Kira to be to achieve his new goals, I guess," he told her.

"Maybe, but why tell me all of this?"

"I don't know, maybe because your eyes show a very trustworthy person . . . or maybe because I know my father wouldn't talk to me about it. He'd say that it wasn't anything to worry about or that it didn't matter if Kira is helping so long as the money continues to pour in. I'm starting to believe that he just might be the one that is Kira. I know that may be a little too strong of a suspicion, but he's been acting very strange lately. He just recently decided to support Kira, he spends more time in his office than anywhere else and quite a few times he seems as if he's talking to himself. Then again maybe my old man's going a bit senile, you know?" he stated with a laugh.

"Well, older adults tend to act like that sometime," she said giving a small laugh as well. _'Talking with himself at times, it has to be a shinigami, meaning . . . he has to be Kira.'_

"Of course I may just be paranoid, considering how bad it would hurt the business if Kira was actually one of the producers. To be honest, I know you see him as somewhat of a savior, but I wish that L would hurry up and capture that bastard," Kenichi said. The conversation began to die down soon after that and he paid their check and drove her back to the building where he picked her up earlier on.

* * *

Hikari yawned as she followed in behind Matsuda who had picked her up. "Well, that was a very interesting evening," she said as she flopped down onto the sofa. Ryuuzaki turned to her.

"Yes, I have to admit that I wasn't expecting him to reveal all that. He must be stressed over something. Then again it does make it least likely now that he would be Kira, considering Kira would never be so stupid as to reveal that to someone he only met a few days before, unless . . ." Ryuuzaki stopped in mid-thought, turning back to his computer screen as he thought things through.

* * *

Hikari was walking through the main building of Hana Productions. She was looking for the candy machine that she was told was on the current floor she had been walking on for the last ten minutes. "This place sure is big," Kaito said as he floated behind her.

As she continued on, she began to hear talking from up ahead. Usually she would have just continued on, minding her own business, but this time the conversation caught her attention. She slowly made her way near the corner of the hallway, stopping before a door of stairs that led to the basement. She remained in silence as she listened in. It was Kenichi's father, Katsuro Hana and Ichiro Takeshi.

"So, this is all you've got, huh? I've given you weeks to figure out L's identity and all you find is this? Obviously Coil is just toying with us to get money, there's more of a possibility that he has no clue just who the hell L is! This is wasting our time, Takeshi!" Mr. Hana exclaimed, but still remained as silent as possible.

"Sir, I'm sorry, this is the best I can do right now. I'm trying as hard as I can to find out more about him, but no one seems to know anything from where he's staying to how to reach him, it's just going to take more time," Mr. Takeshi explained.

"Well you better hurry up, unless you want me to kill you off next instead of the executive producer of Koubai Productions," he warned him.

"Y-yes sir," Mr. Takeshi stuttered. Hikari made her decision then that it was time to leave.

She quickly made her way down the hall, stopping at an intersection to take a breather. _'Hopefully, I wasn't heard, huh? Well, well, what do you know a snack machine.'_ She looked around, seeing that she was not being followed and stopped before the snack machine. "Ryuuzaki, I really hope you heard all of that," she said softly.

"Yep, every word," he replied. She could tell by how he was talking that he had a lollipop in his mouth. She sighed as she put money into the machine.

"Good," she pressed the button on the machine, getting a package of m&ms.

"Oh! Hey, Hikari, while you're at it, would you mind getting me some cupcakes?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, but then remembered that he had cameras placed around the building.

"Which one, vanilla or chocolate?" she asked.

"Chocolate," he replied. She pressed the button, getting the package of cupcakes.

"Ooh, ask her to get me a bag of chips!" she heard Light's voice say. She knew he was doing it only to piss her off.

"Fine. Original, right?" He replied with a yes and she pressed the button for the chips.

* * *

"You guys owe me each a dollar fifty," she declared, placing the snacks before each of them.

"Thank you," each of them replied. Hikari sighed and flopped onto the sofa.

"So, Ryuuzaki, what about that conversation?"

"Well, after listening to it and going over the recording of what Kenichi Hana said, there can only be one conclusion, Mr. Katsuro Hana is Kira, however, to be sure, we're going to need and see if that threat actually happens," Ryuuzaki replied.

Hikari and the others gasped, "You mean until the executive from Koubai suddenly dies? Ryuuzaki, we can't do that!"

"I know that seems wrong, but I have to be completely sure that this is Kira--" he began.

"You want to sacrifice another innocent life just to make sure?! Ryuuzaki--" Hikari started.

"I don't have a choice!" he spat, a little less calm than before.

"If you do this, Ryuuzaki, you're no different than Kira!" she shouted at him then left the room.

"Hikari," Light called to her, but she was already gone.

She slammed the door to her room and flopped down onto her bed. She was so angry that tears started to stream down her reddening face. She grabbed her pillow and laid her face up against it, trying to calm down a bit. She was rather ashamed for what she had said to Ryuuzaki, but right now she knew that she would never admit it as wrong.

She lied there, thinking. She sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes before she left her room.

Ryuuzaki and the others

"Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, Watari, what is it?" Ryuuzaki replied.

"We just received word that the executive producer of Koubai had just died of a heart attack, but he wasn't the only one. A number of producers from Hana Productions have just died as well.

"Thank you, Watari," Ryuuzaki said as he thought about the situation, _'It seems he's killing anyone who might know anything about him being Kira, trying to cover his trail,'_ he thought. "Alright, let's bring him in," He finished, rising from his chair.

* * *

"Thanks for letting me drop by on such short notice," she said, sitting down on a sofa.

"It's fine, so what happened?" Kenichi asked her.

"Me and a friend got into an argument, no big deal, just thought it would be best to get away and calm down," she said with a smile.

"I understand perfectly, you wait here and I'll get you a drink. I hope cola is fine?" he said.

"Yes, thank you," she replied and he left the room. She looked around the current room she was in. It looked like the combination of a sitting room and an office.

"Hikari, are you sure you should be here especially on your own?" Kaito asked.

"I'll be fine, Kaito. Why are you acting so worried all of a sudden--" she whispered, but stopped when something caught her attention. She rose to her feet, walking toward the office desk.

* * *

The humming of the helicopter rang through the air as bright lights were shining towards the person of interest, who stood on a boat dock before a yacht. "It's over Hana! Turn around with your hands up, now!" Mr. Yagami said as he and other task force members surrounded the suspect, all wearing helmets to keep their faces hidden. Ryuuzaki, Light, and Watari were in the helicopter that flew over head, watching the suspect carefully.

* * *

_'It can't be! No way . . . We were wrong!?'_ Hikari thought, her hands trembling as she held the black notebook that she was so familiar with. Hearing footsteps approaching, she set it back down, quickly and sat back down on the sofa.

"Here you are," he said, handing her the drink. She took a sip, trying her best to regain her composure.

_'Now, for the moment of truth,'_ she thought then looked up at him, "Thank you," she replied. Her eyes caught sight of the white shinigami a few feet behind him. Thank God she had already witnessed a shinigami before or she would have lost all control and gave up her cover. She took another sip, remaining calm, and then set the glass onto the coffee table. _'I need to get in touch with Ryuuzaki and fast,'_ she thought. "Do you mind if I use your restroom real quick?"

"Not at all, down that hall and to the left," he replied, still as polite as always. Hikari rose to her feet and walked down the hall, Kaito following her, knowing what she was about to do. She closed the door behind her and pulled out her cell phone. She quickly dialed the number and impatiently waited for him to answer. "Come on, Ryuuzaki pick up."

* * *

Hearing the ringing of his cell phone, he removed it from his pocket and looked to the ID. "Hikari?"

"Probably calling to apologize about that comment earlier," Light suggested.

"Sorry, Hikari, but I'll have to call you back," he said to the phone, placing it back into his pocket.

* * *

The message recorder picked it up instead, "Dammit, L, this is important! We were wrong about Kira! He's not Katsuro Hana he's--" she tried, but lost consciousness when something hit her in the back of the head.

* * *

Mr. Hana put his hand in the air as he turned around, "Alright, you got me!" he replied then suddenly collapsed.

"What the hell?" Light shouted as he and Ryuuzaki looked to see the fallen suspect.

"Ryuuzaki . . . H-he's dead," Mr. Yagami revealed.

"How can that be possible?" Light asked.

"We found a letter with him . . . and . . . it's addressed to you, L," Mr. Yagami told Ryuuzaki.

"Bring it over to the helicopter, please," Ryuuzaki asked. The envelope was brought to him and he opened it, pulling out the letter to read the one sentence written:

_Catch me if you can, L!_

_-Kira_

_'Damn you, Kira!'_ he thought as he set the letter down. He thought over everything carefully then remembered Hikari's call. Something was telling him that her call couldn't wait. He pulled out the phone listening to the message, his eyes widening as he heard it.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light called.

Ryuuzaki removed the phone from his ear and dialed the number to Hikari's cell phone. It just kept ringing, no one answering. It reached her voice mail and he hung up dialed again once again ending up with nothing.

"Ryuuzaki, what's going on?" Light asked and then Ryuuzaki's cell phone started ringing. He answered the phone.

"Hikari?" he asked.

_"Hello, L,"_ a synthetic voice spoke.

"Who is this? Where is she?!" he growled.

_"As if I'd tell you. I will give you a little heads up though; you only have twenty minutes to find her. Being the great detective that you are, you should have no trouble finding her, right?"_ the voice challenged.

"How do I know she's still alive?" he asked.

The voice chuckled, _"Here, angel, L wants to talk to you,"_ the voice said in the background as the phone was moved.

_"R-Ryuuzaki--"_ Hikari spoke softly, her voice shaken up.

"Hikari--"

_"There, now you know she's alive, for now."_ The voice spoke then disconnected the phone.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay... A hostage situation, how nice -sarcasm- Well that's it for this chapter. I'll try to get the next one out soon, possibly today if my PC allows me the opportunity... lately it's been a bit tempermental... Anyway, review and tell me whatcha think :3

**sun-sun kat:** I'm glad you love it :3 Yea, I keep getting irratated at Hikari because she is not telling him (even though it's my fault, lol) but I'm not ready to end the story yet so I torture them a little bit more (sorry L) Thanks for the story alert and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well :D


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

This chapter picks up where the last one left off. Hope you like it... as I said for the last one, it was better in my head so sorry if it isn't that great. Enjoy and thanks for reading! Review!! :D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated with it.

* * *

Hikari began to stir soon after hearing her cell phone ring and was just barely conscious when speaking to L. Soon after the phone was hung up and tossed aside, she was tied up, her wrists and ankles tightly bound by thick, zip ties. To muffle her screams a cloth now covered her mouth. Her eyes shifted back and forth, trying hard to find out where she was. Her attempts in vain due to the darkness of the room. There was hardly any lighting and the room had a bit of a draft. "Sorry about knocking you out like that, babe, but I couldn't have you telling L all the answers."

She started to mumble something, but due to the cloth she couldn't be heard clearly. Kenichi chuckled and removed it, "What was that?"

"L will track you down, you bastard, and when he does, you will be executed!" she spat.

"Don't get your hopes up, after all, he'll be dead before this is over," he replied, smirking at her, "and you will be the one to help me with that," he finished looking at her as a maniacal laugh erupted.

* * *

"Ryuuzaki, according to the GPS, she's inside this building; however, it could be very possible that the cell phone was tossed and she's really somewhere else," Light said, looking over the tracker on the screen. Ryuuzaki stayed silent as the helicopter circled the building. It was one of the areas used by Hana Productions for movie sets. The other task force members had yet to arrive due to traffic problems.

_'They still haven't shown up yet, we're running out of time,'_ Ryuuzaki thought then lowered the helicopter as close to the ground as he could. He removed the chain from his wrist attaching it to a metal pole by the window of the helicopter.

"Ryuuzaki, what are you doing?" Light asked. He didn't answer, but instead turned around.

"Watari, take over for me," he told him. Watari took control of the helicopter as Ryuuzaki exited the helicopter and made his way into the building.

* * *

Hikari's eyes opened as she heard her name being called. She listened, hearing the familiar voice. _'Ryuuzaki?'_ She tried her best to shout, but all she accomplished was muffled screams. _'No, Ryuuzaki, you shouldn't be in here, it's a trap,'_ she thought, hoping he would just leave. Kenichi had already made his escape, but not before initiating his plan to destroy L. Hikari squirmed to get her wrists free, causing the plastic to cut into her already bruised skin. Tears streamed down as she tried to forget the pain. She looked around, seeing a pair of scissors in a cup on a desk across the room she was in.

She heard the voice getting louder and started shouting as loud as possible. A sigh of relief hit her as she heard the creaking of the opening door. "Hikari?" she looked towards the door, seeing him standing in the doorway, a gun in his hand as his onyx eyes surveyed the room. He lowered the gun, realizing that only Hikari was in there and made his way over to her. He removed the cloth.

"Ryuuzaki--" she tried to tell him.

"Where is he?" he asked as he looked around for something to cut the zip ties with.

"You shouldn't be here, the build--"

"Where is he?"

"He's gone, L," Ryuuzaki rose up, grabbing the scissors from the cup, "listen to me," he returned to her and began cutting through the ties, "you're in danger! There's--" she tried to explain as he helped her get up, but was cut off when an explosion rang through the building, originating from the lower floors. Both of them fell to the floor.

"What was that?" he asked, not as calmly as usual.

"Ryuuzaki, are you alright?" Watari asked through the headset.

"I'm fine," Ryuuzaki replied. He stood back up, helping her up and led her back to the stairwell of the building.

"Kenichi, before he left, he placed explosives in the building. Their set to go off on each floor starting from the lower levels up," she explained, following him. Once they arrived in the stairwell, he saw the flames that were starting to make their way up and fast.

"Damn it, this way," he led her up the stairs towards the highest part of the building as another explosion went off. "Watari?" Ryuuzaki shouted through the headset still on his head.

"Yes?"

"Get the helicopter as close to the roof as possible, but do not land. This building isn't very stable and I'm not sure it can hold out much longer," he explained.

"Yes sir," Watari replied.

They continued climbing the stairs, getting closer and closer to the roof when Hikari suddenly lost her footing and tripped. He quickly helped her up and continued on. They made it onto the roof just as another explosion went off. Smoke filled the air as the flames doubled in size. Ryuuzaki looked around, finally spotting the bright searchlight from the helicopter. "Over there," he said, dragging Hikari along as he made his way to the side of the roof.

"There they are," Light pointed out and Watari nodded, pulling the helicopter as close as he could get it while Light lowered the rope ladder.

"We're gonna have to jump," Ryuuzaki informed her as both stood on the very edge of the building.

"J-jump?!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, unless you have a better idea," he stated. He saw fear in her eyes, "You're scared of heights, aren't you?" he asked. Hikari nodded. Suddenly another explosion went off, causing the building to start to shake as if it was under the effect of an earthquake. "Hikari, wrap your arms around my neck and hold on as tight as you can, whatever you do, don't look down," he said to her. She did as he asked and closed her eyes tightly. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, holding onto her tightly as he watched the helicopter.

As the ground beneath them started to cave in, he made a jump for it, grabbing onto the rope ladder, slightly hurting his shoulder as he held both of their weight by one arm. The helicopter flew up from the building as another explosion went off causing the thing to collapse completely within seconds.

He reached his leg up a bit, trying to get his footing as Hikari's eyes opened. Seeing the ground more than one hundred feet below her, she tightly closed her eyes and turned her head, placing it against his chest. Her heart was about to burst from her chest as the fear rose. "R-Ryuuzaki?" she trembled. His attention went to her as she spoke. "I'm sorry . . . Sorry for what I said to you earlier. I didn't mean it. Please . . . please just get me out of this," she begged as tears started to pour.

"Hikari, it's alright, everything will be fine, I promise," he assured her, knowing that she was shaken up pretty badly. He finally got his footing and was able to pull himself up a bit.

"Ryuuzaki! Hikari!" they heard Light shout from the door of the helicopter. Ryuuzaki turned to Hikari.

"I'm going to climb up as close as I can; I want you to grab Light's hand whenever you can, alright? Think you can do that?" he asked. She nodded and he looked up to Light, "I'm sending Hikari first, take her hand whenever you're able to," he told him. Light nodded. Ryuuzaki made his way up the ladder as Hikari held up her hand for Light. After a few tense moments he finally grabbed her hand.

"I gotcha," Light said as he pulled her up and into the helicopter. Ryuuzaki climbed in after her.

"Well, this was sure an interesting evening," Ryuuzaki commented. Hikari looked to him then without saying a word, she hugged him as the tears started to pour once again.

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki," she said, holding onto him tightly. He sat there for a moment, completely frozen then slowly hugged her back.

"You're welcome, Hikari," he replied softly.

They soon released each other and Ryuuzaki took over flying the helicopter. "Now, let's catch Kira," he said, turning to her with a small smile. She nodded and he switched the tracker.

"Ryuuzaki," Chief Yagami began over the radio, "we're in pursuit of Kenichi Hana's car," he finished.

"Excellent, we're on our way," Ryuuzaki replied, heading toward the scene. His eyes shifted to Hikari, "Hey, Hikari, you alright back there?" he asked, seeing her looking a little light-headed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, just don't do anything crazy and I'll be alright," she replied. Watari was in the back as well, setting up a sniper rifle. Ryuuzaki turned the chopper, making it turn rather quickly. "Ryuuzaki! I said not to do anything crazy! Trust me, I won't hesitate to throw up on you!" she then shouted.

"Oh come on, is that how you treat someone who saved you?" he asked, giving her a small smirk as Light laughed. Once they closed in to the scene, Ryuuzaki turned his attention to Watari, "Watari, are you ready?" L asked.

"Yes," Watari replied as he kneeled by the door of the chopper, his gun ready to shoot, if needed.

"Light, I think you should hold onto this for self defense. This is Kira we're after," L said, holding up a gun for him.

"No thanks, firearms aren't allowed in Japan," Light replied.

"You know, I'm sure your father would say the exact same thing," he said. Light nodded, agreeing with him. The chopper followed the car, which suddenly had to stop because of a huge police blockade.

"What's happening? I thought we told the police not to get involved with the arrest," Watari said to Ryuuzaki.

"The only one who would do this is Aizawa," Light said.

"Yes, you must be right," Ryuuzaki said. Kenichi's car suddenly turned completely around as he tried to go the other way. His plans failed however, for the helicopter blocked his path. Ryuuzaki switched on the spotlight, shining the bright beam directly at Kenichi. He suddenly started to drive forward, planning on going under the helicopter.

"This guy is insane, does he really think he can escape this?!" Hikari spoke.

"Stop right there," Watari said then shot at the car, hitting the tire, which caused it to spin out of control, running into the concrete wall. Police cars surrounded it quickly, making it virtually impossible for him to escape. Ryuuzaki landed the helicopter.

"It's over," Light said.

"Yes, it's over," Ryuuzaki agreed as Hikari sighed.

* * *

Over the radio, Mr. Yagami asked if he could be the one to make the arrest along with Mogi and Aizawa. "I understand, but remember that this is Kira. Be sure to take every precaution when you approach him and don't allow him to see you face just incase he has powers like the second Kira," Ryuuzaki informed them. He then turned to Watari, "Watari, if he attempts anything or makes any sudden moves–"

"Understood, I will shoot to stop him, not to kill," Watari replied.

The police surrounded the car, all taking the necessary precautions when arresting him. They told him to step out of the vehicle and put his hands over his head. He was arrested and blindfolded. As planned, Mogi placed a headset on him.

"Kenichi Hana, how are you able to kill people?" Ryuuzaki asked through the headset. The man stayed silent as he smirked. "Tell me!" Ryuuzaki demanded.

He grunted, "As if I'd tell you, L!" he spat.

Ryuuzaki poured a cup of coffee as he continued talking to the man, "If you're not going to talk, I'll use whatever means necessary to get it out of you," he persisted.

Giving in, he finally told the secret, "The notebook," he spat.

"Notebook?" Ryuuzaki questioned.

"You probably won't believe me, but I've got a notebook that can kill people. If I write someone's name in it while thinking of their face, that person dies."

Ryuuzaki and the others listened to him explain, _'a notebook.'_ "Mr. Yagami?"

"Yeah, I found it; it was lying in the passenger's seat of his car. There are many names written, but other than that there doesn't seem to be anything unusual--" Mr. Yagami started screaming.

Ryuuzaki and the others looked toward the scene, "What is it Mr. Yagami?"

"I-It's a monster!" he replied.

"Please calm down. Don't panic. Remember, you're not armed to currently defend yourself," Ryuuzaki reminded him.

"Oh, right, of course," Mr. Yagami replied.

"Chief, are you alright?" Mogi asked, worried.

"Mogi, don't you see that thing over there? That monster?" he asked, picking up the notebook that Mr. Yagami had dropped.

"Chief, I think you must be getting tired," he said then he started shouting as well, claiming to see a monster, too.

"Mogi, what's wrong?" Light asked.

"I-it, that thing. Only people who have touched the notebook can-can see, this-this monster," Mr. Yagami explained.

"Please bring the notebook over to the helicopter," Ryuuzaki commanded.

The notebook was immediately brought to him to look at. He turned from the black notebook over to where they claimed to see the monster and froze.

"It really is . . . a shinigami. They really do . . . exist," he said, seeing the creature. Thoughts about something earlier on in the case began running through his mind.

"Come on, Ryuuzaki, let me see it," Light said as he grabbed the notebook.

_'Two books! There have to be two notebooks, possibly more. This isn't over yet,'_ he thought then noticed he was no longer holding the notebook. Instead it was in the hands of Light Yagami.

Ryuuzaki looked at Light, who seemed frozen. He suddenly began screaming.

"He's back," Kaito said. Hikari looked from him to Light.

_'Back? Oh no! L!'_ Hikari thought.

"Uh, are you ok, Light? I suppose seeing that monster would surprise anyone," Ryuuzaki said.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light spoke.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I wanna check this out. I'm gonna try comparing the names written in this notebook with the names of the victims," Light told him.

"Hmm, oh, right. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Ryuuzaki agreed. He narrowed his eyes as he looked to Light, something wasn't right and he knew it.

"You know, about this notebook. I wonder what we would find if we put it through forensic analysis," Light suggested.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like you, Light. We both know that this thing is beyond science," Ryuuzaki said.

Light gave a faint chuckle, "Yeah, you're right, hmm."

As they were bringing Kenichi toward the police car, he suddenly collapsed, having a heart attack. "What the hell? What's happening?!" Light asked, pretending he had no idea what was going on. Hikari glared at him from the back of the helicopter.

"He sure loves to play innocent, doesn't he?" Kaito spoke.

_'I know this may kill me, but I have to find some way to warn L,'_ Hikari told herself as she tried to think of a way to let him know without Light killing her.

"Dad? What are you doing? We can't lose him! If he dies on us now–-" Light started.

"I-it's impossible, there's nothing I can do. He's already dead," Mr. Yagami said.

* * *

**A/N:** Dun, dun, dun! Kira returns!! This can't be good... I'll post the next chapter ASAP. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. I like to know how I'm doing. It really helps me alot :D

-Reaper


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

Enjoy! and thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated with it.

* * *

"Hikari!" Misa's voice called as the blonde bounced into her room. Hikari looked to her, surprised to see her in the room.

"Yes, Misa, what is it?" she asked her.

"Well, I need to go shopping and Light doesn't feel like going and I don't really feel like shopping with a male body guard; so, I asked Ryuuzaki if you could take me instead. That way, I can shop comfortably, yet still be under surveillance. How's that sound to you?" she asked.

"Um, ok, I need to go shopping anyway. Ever since I became apart of this investigation, I haven't really gotten to have alot of average girl time," Hikari replied.

"Yay! I'll go get my purse and we'll be on our way!" Misa replied, all excited.

Hikari sighed, "Well, I guess this could be fun," she said. Kaito chuckled at her statement.

"Yeah, maybe; however, while you're out, can you please try to find a way to give me a snack?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said softly and then left her room. He followed behind her, downstairs into the main room where Ryuuzaki was sitting, eating an ice cream cone. He noticed how she was dressed and smiled.

"So, I see you're going shopping with Misa," he teased.

"Ryuuzaki, you know it's not too late for me to drag you along as well. You could be our bag boy," she threatened him.

"No, I think I'll pass, thanks," he replied. Misa walked into the room and the two left to go shopping.

* * *

Most of their day was spent in the clothing stores, trying on different outfits and laughing at each other when they tried on something that was total opposite of them. After they finished shopping, they stopped at a small cafe for a quick lunch before having to go back to the investigation team.

"Well, Misa I've gotta say, this is the most fun I've had in a while," Hikari admitted.

"That's great! Everyone needs to have fun every now and then," Misa replied happily, "Maybe next time we should bring Ryuuzaki, he needs a bit more fun in his life," Misa continued. Hikari laughed, agreeing with her. "So, Hikari, speaking of Ryuuzaki . . ." Misa began as she stared at Hikari.

"What about him?" Hikari asked, turning her head to the side.

"Do you have a crush on him or something?" she asked.

"Uh, where the hell did that come from?" Hikari asked, shocked.

Misa giggled, "No reason to try and hide it, I can tell," she told her.

"I'm not hiding anything, c-cause I have no idea what you're talking about," Hikari said, crossing her arms.

"Uh-huh, sure," Misa said, teasing her. "Anyway, I think you should tell him how you feel–" she told her as she finished up her lunch.

"What the hell!" she shouted then sighed. Kaito laughed as he listened in on the conversation.

"Come on, Hikari, you know it's true," Kaito joked then chuckled. He quickly noticed the glare in Hikari's eyes, which were directed toward him. He cleared his throat and sighed, knowing that if he wanted anything to eat then he would have to behave.

The two returned to the hotel an hour later. Upon arrival, Misa returned to her room, while Hikari sat down on the sofa in the room, sighing. "So, how did it go?" Ryuuzaki asked as he sat down on the sofa across from her.

"Fine, why?" she asked.

"Just wondering what the heavy sigh meant," he replied.

"Huh? Oh nothing, I'm just tired. That's what shopping does to you. Anyway, oh yeah, I got you something that you just might like," she said and pulled something out of one of the bags.

"Hmm," he said, trying to see what it was.

"Here you go, enjoy," she said handing him a large Styrofoam cup of coffee and a half dozen box of doughnuts. That seemed to put a smile on his face.

"Mmm, thank you, Hikari. So, tell me, what's the occasion?" he asked.

"Ryuuzaki, come on, since when does there have to be an occasion for someone to give their friend a gift?" she asked.

"I guess you're right. Hmm, seems my list of friends grows more and more," he said as he thought about it. Hikari laughed.

"Yes, well, that's what happens when you have an adorable personality, plus your odd behavior," she told him then looked around, "hey, wait, where's Light? And since when did you remove the handcuffs?" she asked him.

"Ooh, that happened while you were gone. Considering, I no longer have a reason to keep watch over Light; I'm allowing him to do as he wishes. Misa will be allowed to return to her former life, as well," he told her.

"Oh, I see," Hikari replied then rose to her feet, yawning as she picked up her bags, "well, I'm gonna go catch up on some sleep. The last few nights have been a bit hectic. Night, Ryuuzaki," she said as she walked off to her room.

"Night, Hikari," he replied then stood up, carrying his box and cup to the computer. He set the cup down and opened the box of fresh doughnuts. He licked his lips and picked one up, devouring it. As he reached for his cup of coffee, he noticed something under the label.

"Hmm?" He pulled it out from the label, seeing that it was a tightly rolled up piece of paper. He unrolled it and read over what it said. It was from Hikari and had said the following:

_Ryuuzaki, I have something very important that I need to discuss with you, privately._

_Hikari._

_'Hmm, I wonder what it is that she needs to discuss. Wait, could it be that she's ready to reveal to me what she's been hiding? Could that possibly be it? I wonder?'_ he thought to himself.

It was early in the morning. Everyone but Ryuuzaki was asleep, for it was just around five-thirty. He was busy flipping through the notebook, looking for anything that would be of help to the investigation. He sighed and set it down as he picked up a doughnut. He dipped it in his coffee and took a bite.

"There has to be more notebooks; in fact, I know there is, but where and how will I be able to catch the person or persons responsible for using them?" he asked himself, taking a sip of his coffee.

He suddenly heard the padding of feet. Turning around, he saw Hikari had just entered the room. He quickly noticed that she didn't look so well, "Hikari? You alright?" he asked. She looked forward at him, stopping in her tracks.

"R-Ryu--" she began, but suddenly collapsed. He jumped out from his chair and over to her. He lifted her up from the floor and carried her over to the couch.

"Damn, she's burning up," he said when he felt her forehead. "Watari!" he shouted, turning toward the computer.

"Yes, I'm on it," Watari replied.

Ryuuzaki looked from the computer, back to the unconscious Hikari. There was no denying he was worried, but he also wondered if this was because of that note. If Hikari really was about to reveal to him the secret of Kira and Kira found out about it then she would be his prime target.

_'Hikari wouldn't be a target unless she knew Kira personally, which I believe she does. Also, considering that the only ones who know Hikari is in the task force are the task force, myself, Watari, Misa, and Light. Hikari was with Misa all afternoon, so it wouldn't be possible for Misa to kill her while under surveillance. However, Misa could have notified Light about the letter. That settles it . . . if Hikari dies, Light is Kira,'_ he thought.

His mind continued to race to answers, which ultimately led to something critical. _'If this really was the work of Light or whoever Kira is, I doubt he would kill her off like this. He'd use his original method, a heart attack or something quick so that it wouldn't be possible for her to reveal him. Maybe this isn't the work of Kira, for Hikari's sake I hope it isn't.'_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** Arg! And she was going to tell him the truth too. I'm such an evil, evil person. Please don't kill me... especially in the next chapter... If you kill me then the story will never be finished... and that would make me sad... anyway, thanks for reading and please review...


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

Thanks for reading! Please review!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or any characters affiliated with it.

* * *

November 4, 2007

"Well, her fever has started to drop, so I'm pretty sure she'll be back to her normal self after a bit of rest. I am a bit worried though. This is the first time I've seen a case with this virus strand worsen so quickly. Thankfully, it was caught in time, however, any overdoing activity could worsen her condition," a doctor explained. He finished up the examination of Hikari, giving her an injection of antibiotics before allowing her to leave the hospital. Once she was taken back to the task force building she was immediately taken to her room to rest.

Knowing there was nothing else they could do other then let her rest, Light and the other members of the task force went on with looking over the Kira case. L looked through the notebook for anything that would help solve the case. The task force continued looking over records until well after midnight before finally calling it a night. All of the members (with the exception of L) either went to their rooms or to their homes for the night.

L remained in the main room, eating another doughnut as he finished another cup of coffee. Setting down his cup he sighed, rising to his feet. He walked off down the hall of the building, stopping before the room where she was resting in bed. He walked inside the room, sitting in a chair he had pulled up to the bed. He watched her as she rested all the while hoping that she would be alright.

He stayed in there for a few moments before rising to return to the main room. As he stood he heard her speak, "R-Ryuuzaki?" He turned back to the bed, seeing her as she opened her eyes. She was still weak and small beads of sweat covered her forehead as her fever began to break.

"Ryuuzaki, I-I--" she tried to speak.

"Hikari, don't talk. Try to get some rest–" he told her softly.

"N-no . . . I have something . . . you need to know . . . about Li–" she began, but lost consciousness.

"Don't worry, you can tell me when you recover," he told her and started toward the door, "Night Hikari," he said softly then left the room.

* * *

November 5, 2007

"Ryuuzaki, is something the matter? What is it?" Watari asked as he saw him enter the room. He did not answer, but looked down. His face held a solemn look and it worried Watari.

"What's wrong?" he asked again, but still L still did not answer him, only stood there in complete silence.

* * *

L sat on the sofa in the main room, holding up the Death Note upside down. He held it in a grasp of only two fingers and examined a page very carefully, seeing a piece had been ripped out, "Hmm, interesting. The corner of the page in this notebook has been torn off. Can you kill someone just by writing their name on a piece?" he asked the Shinigami, Rem, before him. His eyes shifted from the notebook to her.

"I can't say. I've never tried using it like that and I don't know anyone who has," Rem replied, vaguely.

"Then let me ask you, do Gods of Death love apples?" he asked, placing the notebook onto the coffee table before him. He opened it, flipping through the pages.

"Not necessarily. You see, our internal organs have already degraded. We've evolved to a point where we do not require sustenance," Rem answered. L closed the notebook, picked up a strawberry, and placed it in his mouth.

"Say Light," Light turned his head to him, "you're finally free to leave headquarters on your own, but it seems like you never go out," he told him and took a bite of another sweet, "Even when Misa comes to visit, you only chat with her for a few minutes outside," he turned to Light, "You do realize you're free to have a relationship with her now?"

"That can wait until we've managed to solve this case. I'm not in the mood for love or anything else right now. Anyway, are you suggesting that I'll be a nuisance for staying here?" Light asked him as he stood a few feet behind the sofa.

"No," he replied, his eyes shifting back to him.

It wasn't long after that, they received reports that more criminals were being killed. L listened to the reports from his computer chair as he ate panda cookies. After mentioning that this began after Misa was released, Light argued with him stating that she had nothing to do with it. L poured out the rest of the panda cookies onto the table.

He picked on up from the table, looking at it, "Well, if there is another notebook floating around out there and someone is now using it to kill criminals," he crushed one of the cookies in between two fingers, "I'll just have to bring that person to justice," he finished then took a bite from the cookie and then another from the cookie in his other hand.

He looked down at the torn page of the Death Note thinking. _'The shinigami insisted that it didn't know, but if someone were able to kill simply by writing a name on a torn piece of the notebook. It's not impossible, but there's that rule: whoever writes a name in this notebook has to write another name within thirteen days, otherwise, they die. Light Yagami and Misa Amane are both still alive . . . thirteen days . . . that's the only problem.'_

Light walked over to L, stopping behind him. "Ryuuzaki, even if we do manage to catch the person whose been writing names in the notebook, will we really be able to legally convict and punish them for mass homicide?" he asked.

"What? Of course we can convict them. This guy's intentionally writing names in the notebook knowing that these people are going to die. Even if we don't plan on publicly acknowledging the notebook, the least we can do is execute the killer," Matsuda replied.

"It's not a very humane way to do things, but the higher ups would probably want to take measures like that," Aizawa replied to Matsuda's answer.

"If they admit to killing with the notebook, they'd receive the death penalty or life in prison at least," L said then tossed a half of a cookie into his mouth, "that's the best that they could hope for," he finished.

* * *

While the others remained in the main room, L took a walk to the roof of the building, standing out in the pouring rain. He was completely soaked, just staring off into space as things ran through his mind, mostly memories of his childhood, but other than that he had a weird feeling that ran through him.

He turned his head, seeing Light standing a few feet away from him. "What are you doing in a place like this, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked him. L, unable to hear him due to the steady downpour, placed his hand at his ear, "What are you doing in a place like this, Ryuuzaki?" Light said louder so that he could be heard. L smiled and did the gesture again.

Light blinked then walked out into the storm. "What are you doing, Ryuuzaki?" he asked as he got closer to him.

"Oh, I'm not doing anything in particular, it's just . . . I hear the bell," he replied.

"The bell?" Light asked confused by what he meant.

"Yes, the sound of the bell has been unusually loud today," he replied.

"Hmm, I don't hear anything," Light told him.

"Really? The conditions are favorable today; so, you can't help but hear it. I find it very distracting. I wonder if it's a church. Maybe a wedding or perhaps a–"

"What are you getting at, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked. L looked at him, "Come on! Cut it out. Let's get back inside," he told him.

L put his head down, "I'm sorry. Nothing I say makes any sense anyway. If I were you I wouldn't believe any of it," Light looked at him, seeing the droplets of water, dripping from his hair.

"You know, you're totally right," Light agreed, "Honestly, most of the things you say sound like complete nonsense. There'd be no end to my troubles if I actually took you seriously all the time. I probably know that better than anyone," Light told him.

"Yes, I would say that's a fair assessment, Light. But, I can say the same about you," he replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Light asked.

"Tell me Light, from the moment you were born has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?" L asked as he looked to Light. The two stared at each other as moments of complete silence passed between them.

"Where's this coming from, Ryuuzaki? I do admit, I stretch the truth here and there;however, there aren't any humans who have never told a lie. Human beings just aren't made to be perfect like that, everybody lies from time to time. Even so, I've always made a conscious effort to be careful not to tell a lie that would hurt others. That's my answer," Light told him.

L looked from him to the ground, "I had a feeling you'd say something like that," he said. Light looked to the ground, not saying a word. "Let's go back inside. We're both drenched."

"Yeah," Light agreed. The two of them returned inside the dry off.

* * *

Hikari's eyes slowly opened as she began to awaken. She rubbed them, trying to clear her vision and sat up. She looked around, seeing that she was in her room, "Huh? What happened?" she asked herself, vaguely remembering the incident. She grabbed her cell phone from the bedside table and looked at the screen. "I've been out this long!" she said to herself as she got up. She was still feeling a little disoriented, but had a feeling it was because she had been in bed for a long amount of time.

"So, you're awake, had to admit I was getting worried," she heard Kaito from the side of the room.

"Kaito, what's been happening lately? Is Ryuuzaki-" she asked, her voice filling with worry.

"Everything's fine, well, Kira started murdering again, but so far everyone on the task force has been alright. He came to check on you earlier," Kaito informed her.

She stopped and turned to him, "He did?"

"Yeah, he seemed a bit worried about something, so anyway, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Well, I've been better, but I'm sure I'll be fine," she said then left the room with Kaito trailing behind her. As she made her way into the main room she heard L's voice.

"We're very close! If we work this out, the entire case will be solved," he said to the others. Suddenly, a huge bolt of Lightning flashed and the power went out. The room became red as the computers all came back on. Hikari stopped at the entrance, confused by what just happened.

"What is this? A black out?" Matsuda asked. L stared at his computer.

"Watari?" he called, but did not get an answer, "Watari!" he shouted and the computer screens changed to say 'All Data Deletion.'

"Data Deletion, what the hell's going on?" Aizawa asked.

"I told Watari to make sure that he should erase all information in the event that something were to happen to him," L explained.

"If something were to happen?" Aizawa asked.

"Could it be?" Matsuda asked.

"Where is the shinigami?" L demanded.

"Good question, I don't see it," Mr. Yagami said. They looked around, not seeing the shinigami anywhere.

"It disappeared," Aizawa replied.

"What's going on," Mr. Yagami asked.

"Everyone, the shiniga--" L started, but suddenly stopped as a pain hit his chest.

_'No,'_Hikari thought as she realized what was happening to L. His spoon fell from his hand as he fell from his chair to the marble floor. Light caught him as he fell.

"Ryuuzaki, what's wrong?" Matsuda asked.

L looked up at Light's eyes, seeing as his expression began to change from worried to sinister. Light smirked down at L who realized the truth. _'I was right. Light Yagami, you are Kira, I . . . knew . . .'_ He thought as his eyes started to close. After he gave his last breath, Light's smirk shifted back into a worried look.

"Hey? Ryuuzaki, come on! Snap out of it!" Light said, shaking L to see if he would wake up.

"What happened?" Mr. Yagami asked.

"What's going on?" Aizawa asked.

Suddenly, Light began screaming, "We're gonna die! Watari, Ryuuzaki, it'll be us next!!" Light shouted, trying to stir a commotion by acting paranoid. All the others began to panic.

"Damn you! Where are you, shinigami! Come out!" Light shouted acting upset at the fact that L was now dead.

"Wait, Light," his father said.

"You know something about this, don't you?! Come on out!" Light shouted as he went off through the hotel searching for it.

"W-We better go and look, too," Mr. Yagami said and followed after Light. Hikari walked forward, toward L's lifeless body. Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mogi saw her walking forward as tears streamed down her face.

"Hikari, shouldn't you be--" Matsuda started.

"You guys go help Mr. Yagami and Light, I'll stay with Ryuuzaki," she said, kneeling down beside him. She cradled him in her arms as she looked at him.

"Yeah," the others said and left the room.

"Hikari?" Kaito called to her. She didn't answer, but just lowered her head and cried. _'It's my fault . . . it's all my fault because I didn't warn him in time . . . I'm sorry, L'_

* * *

A/N: Please don't kill me, it's not over yet and there's alot more to come. I'll try to post the next chapter soon!


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

Contrary to public belief, I'm not dead... or critically injured by rapid L fangirls, who really are out to get me after the last chapter -ahem- anyway, I apologize with the lack of updating... I really do, I've just been having difficulties getting the chapters to turn out the way I want them. I recently read over the ones that I published on another site and I just wasn't too happy with them so after days of editing and then re-editing again and again... this is my final product... sorry if it doesn't reach its full potential of what it could be. Anyway, that aside, thank you everyone for all of the reviews, I really appreciate the feedback and hope to hear from you again after this chapter. Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas! (or Happy Holidays, whichever you prefer).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or anything affiliated with it.

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Several hours had passed since the death of L and Watari. A private funeral had already been arranged and the set date would be within the next few days. No one outside of the task force was to know of L's passing and to keep it that way; the cemetery overseers were to be paid to keep quiet. All members of the task force sat in silence soon after the incident, some were upset, most didn't want to believe it. Hikari was one of them. Soon after the incident, she went directly to her room, not saying a word to the others. It wasn't hard to see that she was hurt, considering how fond she had become of the young detective over the past months, but staying behind locked doors kept her emotions unknown to the others, or at least that's what she wanted to believe.

She had a mixture of emotions bottled up inside her, too many to name; and an unbearable pain swelled within her, pain which was also bringing forth hate, a hate for Light Yagami. It wasn't just the fact that he had caused L's death, but that he had the nerve to act as if he cared afterwards. Anger boiled up inside her every time she heard the bastard mention avenging L's death. The boy she had grown up with, became friends with, and even looked up to. The one who was there for her after her mother's death, gave her the assurance that someone was there when she needed them; he was completely gone. He had become a monster, destroying the world with his sick, twisted sense of justice. He wasn't the Light she remembered, not anymore... not after all of this. He was a heartless monster, more cruel and demented than even a God of Death.

Silence swept through her room as she sat on her bed, her teary orchid gaze staring emotionless out of the rain streaked window. A trail of tears lined her reddening cheeks. Placed close to her hand was her Death Note, something she had managed to sneak in (mostly with Kaito's help). Held in her opposite hand was a black inked pen.

She slowly turned from the window, looking to the black notebook, her mind contemplating her next actions. Arriving at her final decision, she opened the book. Kaito noticed and walked to her side, "Hikari? What are you going to do?" he asked, not sure if she would actually answer him.

As he thought, she didn't respond. Tears continued to fall, landing onto the paper as she placed the tip of the pen against it. She closed her eyes tightly, trying hard to stop the heavy flow of tears. Opening them again, she gave herself one last time to change her mind. _'I'm going to do this... I'm going to kill Light... and then myself... that is the only way to atone for the stupid decisions I have made... I'm sorry, L... I should have told you the truth... I'm so sorry...'_ she thought then began writing the names.

As she finished Light's first name her hand shook with fear. This was the first time she had used the cursed thing since learning of its deadly powers. She kept going, determined to finish this. Knowing there was nothing he could do to change her mind, Kaito remained silent.

As she reached the second letter of Light's last name, she suddenly stopped. "I . . . I can't do it," she said as the pen fell from her grasp. She lied down on the bed, crying into the pillow, "Dammit! . . . I couldn't bring myself to do it . . . I-I just can't do it," she said softly as the tears continuously poured. Kaito sat beside her.

"It's because you're a good person, Hikari . . . Knowing of the notebook's power, I really don't believe you would ever be able to go through with killing another, innocent or not . . . especially after seeing all of this play out . . . besides, I'd doubt that L would want you to kill Light with a sense of revenge, anyway. In fact, killing him now wouldn't prove anything that L was fighting to achieve. He'd want him proven without any reasonable doubt to be Kira. If you kill him now, what do you think would happen?" Kaito asked. He felt a bit awkward by trying to cheer a human up, but even though he was a god of death, he couldn't deny the fact that Hikari had grown on him. No, he didn't love her as Rem did Misa, but he did consider her a friend of sorts and in that way he did actually care.

Hikari lifted her head from the pillow, taking in Kaito's words, really thinking through them as she began to calm down. She nodded in agreement, "His death would be perceived as another one of Kira's deaths. In a sense . . . if I did that, I'd be no different than Light," she replied. She wiped the remaining stream of tears from her eyes before speaking again, "You're right . . . Kaito." After a few quiet moments, she sat up and turned to the shinigami, "Kaito, I have a question."

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, back to his old careless seeming self.

"I know that because of your world's laws that you can't reveal everything to me, but . . . I really need to know . . . is there a way? A way to bring L back?" she asked. Kaito looked at her, seeing the determination in her eyes. He turned away and sighed as he walked to the window.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Hikari. Yes, there is a way . . . the Death Eraser," Kaito answered, turning toward her.

"The Death Eraser?"

"Yes, a secret tool that enables the owner to erase the names of the people written in the note. I have to say that this is the first time I've ever come across someone who is dedicated to use it. Hell, I'm not even entirely sure if the damn thing even works since we shinigami has absolutely no need for it, but I will warn you, Hikari. With this tool comes a hefty price, a price that most are unwilling to give up," he told her.

She looked him in the eyes, "Name your price, Kaito."

"The price for obtaining the Death Note is half your life span, but that isn't the end. Granted, it is an unlimited tool that can be used by you until your death; however, there is a price you pay each time you remove a name from a Death Note. That price is one year of life per letter erased. In other words, if you obtained the Death Eraser; however, your lifespan was shorter than the amount of life you spent then the eraser would not work, but you would die." (1)

Hikari thought over what Kaito had just told her, going over every detail in her mind. Coming to a decision she looked to Kaito.

"Kaito, I've reached my decision . . ." He looked to her, wondering just what her answer would be.

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A/N: Well, it sure seemed longer on microsoft word... sorry for the shortness, I'll make up for that I assure you. Hmm, as I said, I'm a bit disappointed in this chapter. I'm not sure why it just seems to be missing something (maybe it's just me being paranoid... again). Let me know of any mistakes please and thank you! Anyway! Hmm, what is Hikari's decision, I wonder. Read and find out

-1. The reason this was marked was mainly to explain. Yes, the Death Eraser does exist (read Pilot manga to understand); however, there were no rules, other than the body can't be burned or destroyed or whatever. I found this a bit light. You give up half your remaining lifespan for shinigami eyes to see someone's name and lifespan, yet you give nothing to bring back a soul??? So yeah, I added rules to it. It made it more realistic (to me anyway).

-Reaper


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

Well, since the last chapter was a bit short and that this one goes with the last one, I decided to publish in pairs, hope that makes you readers happy. I'm still not too satisfied with this one and if I think of any other way I can butcher it to make it better, I will... anyway, enjoy this chapter (I hope) and thanks for reading and reviewing (to all of those amazing readers who actually do leave me some feedback, especially in times when I really need it in order to know if the chapters are atleast a bit presentable).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or anything affiliated with it.

* * *

"Deal," she told him.

"Are you sure you want this, Hikari? It's not too late to change your mind," he informed her.

"I'm sure, after all, what do I have to lose?" she replied softly.

"Alright," he said, reaching his hand out to make the exchange. She closed her eyes taking a deep breath. After a few seconds had passed, the process was complete. "It's done," Kaito told her. Hikari opened her eyes, seeing the object held in the shinigami's hand. She reached out and he placed it in her grasp. She pulled her hand toward her, looking at the eraser. It had the appearance of a normal eraser, making it easy for her to take it with her without being under suspicion.

She doubted Light's knowledge of the eraser's existence, so if he saw it, he would have no idea, unless his shinigami informed him. However, Kaito told her that her secret was safe and that the shinigami which was with Light was now dead (Rem) and the other one he was aware of wouldn't say anything (Ryuk). The following morning after the incident, members of the task force delivered the bodies of L and Watari to the funeral home.

Unaware to the others, Hikari observed the area, taking note of where surveillance cameras were as well as the access code for the room where L was taken. After learning all of the information that she needed, she left, heading home. Earlier that day she had talked Light into allotting her some time off. Although that was one of her intentions, her true intention was to see where Light kept the notebook which held L's name. She succeeded and concocted a plan to get the page containing L's name.

That evening, she waited for Light to head to bed before carrying out her plan. After being sure that all of the task force was sleeping or had gone home for the night, she made her way down the halls, avoiding every camera as she did. She quietly walked inside of Light's room and searched for the notebook. Her heart began to race as the time went by with no avail. Thankfully, Light seemed to be a pretty heavy sleeper.

After a ten minute frantic search, she finally found it. Double checking, she flipped through the pages knowing that the other notebook had a torn edge on one of the pages, this one however did not. She stopped on a page when she read a name. It read 'L Lawliet'. Given if she wasn't in such a serious situation that could possibly result in her death, she would have laughed at the irony of his true name actually being L. Clever, no one would have figured that giving L's cautious behavior with everything. As she saw his name, she began to feel better about the situation. She grabbed the corner of the page and carefully ripped it from the notebook as silent as possible. Leaving his room, she took off down the hall, exiting the building. _'One step down, one more to go,'_ she told herself.

She arrived at the funeral home at around midnight. She made her way inside the building, arriving inside the room, coming face to face with an employee. She was a young woman, no older than herself. Knowing she couldn't have anyone know about this, she pulled a hand gun from her jacket, (which she had taken from the headquarters, hoping no one would notice that it was missing). She aimed it at the girl, "Listen, I don't want to have to kill you, but only if you keep your mouth shut about this. I'll even pay you, understand?" she asked her. Hikari knew she wouldn't kill her, she even had the safety on just to prevent anything like that from happening, but she needed the girl to believe that she would. The girl nodded, frightened. "Good," she said, still aiming the gun as she walked over to the newly finished casket.

Opening it, she saw L. He looked rather peaceful, his analyzing, onyx eyes hidden behind closed lids. His thick, shaggy black hair just as messy as it had been since she met him and like always, he was barefoot. As she saw his cold, lifeless body, she thought back to his death. She quickly forced those thoughts from her head, instead telling herself that he would soon be back and that everything would go right as it should have long ago. She looked form his peaceful form to the girl, "I'm gonna need you to help me get him out of here," Hikari told her.

"And where do you expect me to take him?" she asked in disbelief, wondering (like any normal person would) what she wanted with a deceased person.

"Just come with me," she demanded. The girl didn't question her motives and believed it would be better to just do as she requested. The woman removed the body from the casket, placing it onto a stretcher and covered it with a white sheet as she was asked by Hikari. Placing the gun against the girl's back, they walked toward the backside of the building, where Hikari had a vehicle ready, an ambulance to be honest. She knew with that no one would question her.

The girl helped her get L inside and Hikari handed her a huge wad of cash, "Look, I'm sorry about holding you at gunpoint like that, but I had no choice. Considering I kept my promise and kept you alive, I'd hope that you'd hold the decency of not revealing to anyone that I was here. Also, I want you to replace the body I just removed with this mannequin and keep the casket locked, that shouldn't be too hard for you and it should keep you from being questioned," she explained. The girl took the replica and gave Hikari her word that she wouldn't reveal her.

Once the mission was accomplished, Hikari set off toward her final destination, her apartment. She was easily able to back the ambulance into the back driveway without being seen. She quickly removed the body, placing it inside and then drove the ambulance down the road to an empty parking lot. Another girl was there waiting.

She was Hikari's age, a brunette with green eyes. She was a little bit taller than Hikari and had a darker complexion. She was dressed in a long coat covering a turtle-neck and blue jeans, standing by a car. Hikari parked the ambulance and walked over to her. "Thanks Yuka, I really owe you one," she told her, tossing the keys to her friend.

"No problem, as long as I have it back before dawn I shouldn't get into any trouble," Yuka replied. Yuka's father was a prop designer for movie companies around the Kanto area and had built that exact ambulance for a film that had been shot the previous year. The mannequin was created by him as well. Hikari quickly got into the car and after saying bye to Yuka, left for her home. Her evening was finally complete.

"Alright, everything is ready. Now, Kaito, how sure are you that this will work?" she asked, looking at L.

"Hmm, I'd say about seventy-five percent, maybe a little more," he replied, shrugging as if that little tid-bit wasn't too important.

"Alright, guess it's now or never," she told herself then placed the page of the Death Note on the coffee table before her. L's body was carefully placed on the couch by the table. She took a deep breath then began erasing the name.

She finished erasing and set the eraser down as her eyes shifted to L. She noticed his fingers beginning to move and her heart stopped. He slowly opened his eyes as he began breathing once again. _'It worked!'_ she thought as she watched him. He slowly sat up, observing his unfamiliar surroundings as his eyes adjusted from the blurry vision he woke up with. His eyes shifted across the room, a little bit scared, but more confused by what was going on. He believed he was dead, in fact, he knew he was dead, yet now, he felt very much alive? His eyes stopped when they reached Hikari's staring right back at him. He continued to stare at her for a moment, trying to reason with himself in his mind.

"Hikari?" he spoke then held a long pause, "what's going on?"

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A/N: Yay! L! He's back, now I don't have to be killed by the rabid L fangirls! :D As disappointed as I am by these last two chapter, I do have to say that I enjoyed the last part. L confused is just adorable to me. Anyway, let me know what you thought and also let me know of any mistakes. Thank you for your reviews and for taking time out of your most likely busy schedules to read it. I appreciate it :D

-Reaper


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

Here's chapter twenty eight. It took alot of work and sleepless nights but I succeeded. It is completely different from my original version that I posted up on another site, mostly because when I re-read it, it just didn't seem to flow right in my mind. I felt like I could have done a whole lot better on it. In the end, I totally rewrote it, adding three more pages of content to it. Hopefully it's good. This is where the storyline starts to get a bit tricky (with regards to the building of the actual relationship. I don't want to rush it or make it agonizingly slow. I really hope that it's somewhere in the middle.) Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks to all of you who sent me reviews.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note or anything affiliated with it.

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"I am… alive? How is this possible? I should be dead-" L said, mostly to himself, going over everything that happened in moments leading up to his demise. He couldn't see how it was possible. He remembered the pain in his chest, the falling to the cold floor, the smirk Light gave as he watched him die. All of that was permanently etched in his mind, so he knew there was no way he could deny his death, but this made absolutely no sense. One minute he's dead, next he's alive and well? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was this some kind of sick joke brought upon him by a higher power intent on torturing him? What the hell was it, he wasn't too sure. All he knew was that he was apparently in some room, sitting before who he recognized as Hikari, unless his mind was playing tricks on him in that department as well.

"I . . . uh," Hikari spoke, gaining his attention. He could easily see that she was worried about something, or it could possibly be the fact that a dead guy just came back to life in her living room. Little did he know her concern was on how he would react to her explanation of him coming back from the dead?

"Hikari?" he spoke, encouraging her to continue. She was silent for a moment thinking of the best way she could explain this to him. Of course, she knew that there wasn't a best way when it came down to it. No sugar-coating could brighten up this explanation.

Avoiding his gaze, which she would admit at the moment was intimidating as hell or perhaps it was her guilty conscience making it seem that way, she looked to the floor. After all, it was kind of her fault that the detective died. Sure, in the moments leading up to his death she was going to tell him the truth and even tried, but that wasn't an excuse. She should have done it long before that. She should have told him the truth the first time she was asked. She was told then that anything she said to him would be confidential. Why didn't she listen? Why didn't she just say it and keep a lot of this from happening? Right, it was because she would get burned for it as well. The name in the notebook was proof enough. She killed someone and even though it wasn't necessarily intentional, she still did it. She selfishly valued her life over countless others. She hid it all just to save herself and for that she knew she deserved whatever happened after she revealed it all.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up, ready to face judgment. "I-I did it. I was able to bring you back," she paused for moment, picking up the small, white eraser as well as the page of the Death Note, "I was able to remove your name from the shinigami, Rem's notebook," she continued, handing both objects to the detective. He took them cautiously and after looking at her for a brief moment, his eyes focused on the objects in his grasp. He looked from the eraser to the paper, seeing the few, small eraser shavings left in the worn spot on the page where his name apparently used to be. He was unsure how what looked like an average eraser could erase a name and bring a person back from the dead. That seemed a little far-fetched, but instead of speaking, he patiently waited for her continuation.

"It's known as the Death Eraser," she explained, "And the reason I know of its existence is because..." she stopped, dreading her next statement. She was as nervous as hell and it was easily seen by her actions. She was avoiding eye contact, looking towards the floor as she fidgeted with her hands. Her palms were starting to sweat a little and there was a lump in her throat, making it difficult for her to continue. Definite signs of nervousness.

Sighing, she summoned all the courage she had and delivered her final words, or in her opinion the final crushing blow to her life as she knew it, "It's because I have a Death Note," she finally admitted. Almost an entire year, she had kept quiet about the thing, thinking it was better for her to pretend to know nothing about Kira's power or his identity.

"What?" L finally spoke. He heard what she said; he just couldn't really believe it. He knew since the beginning that Hikari was aware of Light being Kira, but he was stunned by the fact that she held the same weapon that he did. Why didn't he see that? Was it her seemingly innocent personality that caused him to almost refuse to believe what she had just said? He couldn't deny what she said, especially after she revealed the notebook soon after admitting that she had one. She knew everything since the beginning of this investigation and chose _now_ to admit it? Was she only playing innocent with him, slowly gaining his trust to help Light achieve his goal of defeating the detective? Was it all an act?-no, if it was an act, she would have tried harder, plus she would have no reason to tell him any of this, let alone bring him back from the dead. It was definitely mind-boggling to the detective, but more so it was unnerving.

"You had one all this time and never said a word . . ." he stated softly, his onyx eyes shifting from her to the carpeted floor.

"L, I'm sorry I didn't say anything... if I could go back, I would. I just-" she started.

"No, if you would have revealed this then the case would have already been solved. Those countless lives wouldn't have been sacrificed for nothing. Light wouldn't have won!" he said, his usually monotone voice laced with anger. His eyes were back at her, narrowed slightly, showing he was pissed off. She didn't blame him, not at all. This was the reaction she knew he would give; this was the reaction anyone would give, but she knew she had to tell him the truth... she just had to.

"L, I didn't mean-" she tried explaining, while also trying to keep her emotions in check. She could never stand being yelled at, in fact she hated it. She'd always end up crying and it made her feel weak.

"Just leave me alone . . . and it's Ryuuzaki," he said, rather shouted, in a cold, harsh tone. He sat in his usual manner, gripping his knees while turning away from her, shutting himself off from everything around him. A bit childish? Maybe, but at the moment he was just too irritated to care.

Following his requests, she set the notebook on the table and left the room. He heard a door shut and sighed. He turned back around, seeing the notebook. Rising from his position, he grabbed the notebook and opened it as he sat back down. He looked through the notebook, noting the mostly blank pages, and read the only names he was able to find, which he found on the first page. _'Only two names have ever been written? Eito Shimizu'_ He noted the way the name was written, sloppy and rushed as if it had been written in the heat of the moment._ 'and Light?'_ He found himself rather surprised by seeing Light's name, but noticed it wasn't complete.

"She couldn't bring herself to do it," a voice spoke to him from the archway. He turned, seeing Kaito. With this being his second encounter with a shinigami, he wasn't surprised by it as he was when he first saw Rem. He stared at the thing, which was apparently male according to the voice, noting how different this shinigami was in comparison to the previous one. He appeared more menacing (especially with the blood-stained scythe and piercing crimson eyes) than the first one did.

"A shinigami?" It wasn't a question in to if the creature was or wasn't one, it was just a mere statement.

"The name is Kaito," he said bluntly as he walked over to the corner of the room. L shut the notebook and placed it beside him. "I don't know what she sees in you," Kaito said. L looked over to the shinigami, giving him a look that seemed to ask what the creature was talking about.

"Hikari. It's amazing how she tries to help, but ends up getting yelled at. I wouldn't have wasted my time-or in Hikari's case, my life for your damn soul," Kaito told him, seemingly upset by L's actions in regards to his current host.

"Her life?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Ah, I see; so you decide to care if her life is threatened, typical," he replied, sounding bored. Hanging upside down while sitting Indian style, Kaito yawned and sharpened his nails or in his case, claws, against the nicked up blade of his scythe.

"Listen, shinigami, I don't have time for your games, I would appreciate it if you would answer my question," he demanded.

Kaito's gaze shifted back over to the raven haired detective and laughed, "Ha, well, well pretty brave to be talking to a shinigami like that, human. Besides, why should I tell you? Give me one good reason, L Lawliet," Kaito said.

"Just answer my question-" he replied, starting to lose what patience he had left with the thing. He had only met the thing minutes ago and it had already irked him more than Misa Amane did. Who ever thought that would be possible?

"Why, so you can then feel bad for her and go apologize for your actions?" Kaito rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I swear you humans are pathetic," he told him. He looked back at L, noticing that the man wouldn't let him be until he answered him. Kaito sighed and gave a grin, seeming to brighten up a bit. By what, L wasn't sure and it was a little creepy, "Well, seeing as you won't leave me alone until I answer, I'll explain it, but I'm only saying it once, so don't ask me questions cause I won't answer them," he said frowning.

_'This shinigami sure has a rather... strange personality, it's almost bipolar,'_L thought as Kaito began to explain, while once again upside down. L knew better than to question the thing, knowing that he could kill him at any time with the notebook he undoubtedly carried with him.

* * *

Teardrops fell into the sink, distorting Hikari's image in the water as it was mixed by the constant ripples created through her crying. She cupped her hands into the water, splashing it upon her face. Droplets of water ran down her cheeks mixing with the remaining tears. She repeated the act again and again before drying off with a hand towel. Switching off the bathroom light, she walked toward her bed, dressed in light blue, flannel pajamas.

She pulled back the comforter, climbing into bed and pulled it back over her as she rolled over on her side. She faced the door, her eyes heavy from crying even after splashing water against her face. Staring at a spot on the door, she tried to fall asleep. She wanted to forget what had happened in the living room, to forget about Kira, the investigation, shinigami, Death Notes, and most of all forget about L. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she began to drift off.

She was woken up by the soft creak of her bedroom door only moments after finally drifting off. Her eyes remained shut; she only listened to the soft footsteps as they got closer and closer to her. She knew who it was, who else would it be?

"Hikari?" she heard him say softly, his voice more gentle than before, no longer laced with anger. He obviously wasn't there to yell at her anymore. Of course she ignored his calls, pretending to be asleep. She heard him sigh as he stopped.

"I'm sorry," he spoke even softer. He was aware that she knew she made a mistake; she's only human after all. He could understand her hesitation, knowing now that she hid it only in fear of her life. What right did he have to be angry with the fact that she did all she could to live, after all, did he not do the same? He spent his life hiding in the shadows, allowing others to sacrifice their wellbeing for the sake of the case. He did what he could to stay alive and she was only doing the same.

_I'm sorry_. Hearing those words come from his mouth made her heart skipped a beat and sent a shiver down her spine. He was apologizing to her, apologizing for something that he was in the right to do. She deserved it, didn't she? She didn't know what to do, just ignore him or to suddenly just wake up? She felt his warm hand against her forehead, his fingers gently brushing the strands of hair from her face. She froze at his touch, almost unable to breathe. Thankfully, the lights were off or he would have seen that she was awake.

She was so confused, not by why L was sorry, but more of why she was acting this way when he spoke to her softly, when he touched her. Kaito would always tease her about having a crush on the detective, which Hikari would always deny. Even Misa picked up on it during their little shopping excursion. So were they right? Was she reacting to him this way because she might have feelings for him? Was that even possible? She did recall how before she found out that he was L she seemed to be falling for him. Was it because of who he really was that caused her to sort of back out of that? Or was she trying to make herself believe that she did out of fear of rejection? After all, he was the world's greatest detective there was no way he'd fall for a normal girl like her, right?

Feeling his hand move from her skin, leaving cool air in its place, she heard retreating footsteps. She opened her eyes, "Hmm . . . Ryuuzaki?" she spoke as she sat up. He stopped and turned around. "What is it?" she asked with a yawn, pretending that she had just woken up. He was silent as he walked back over to her. He sat down beside her, looking to the ground.

"Forgive my earlier actions, Hikari. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, it was wrong of me."

"No, it's ok, I deserved it. I mean, you were right. If I would have revealed the notebook long ago then-"

"No," he interrupted, causing her to look at him. "That doesn't give me the right," he explained, his eyes piercing deep into hers with a look of sincerity. His gaze left hers as he looked back to the floor. A few moments passed before he spoke again, "So, why did you do it?" he asked.

"Do wha-Oh. Well, because it seemed like the right thing to do. I know it can't make up for what happened, but... I just had to," she explained.

"I see . . ." he spoke, his eyes once again connecting with hers for a moment. He turned his gaze to the wall as he sat there before her. Like always, he was in his usual crouching position, hugging his knees. Hikari couldn't help but smile, he looked so... so... _adorable_? He noticed her staring at him and turned to her. "What?" he asked, not sure why she was smiling.

She shook her head, "Nothing, it's just you look adorable sitting like that," she admitted, mentally smacking herself for it afterwards. Why didn't she just say no reason? Why did she blurt that out? What the hell was she thinking?

She could tell by seeing his thumb against his lips that he was deep in concentration over her statement, which caused her to panic a bit. Regaining control of herself, she raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly the detective's genius mind was thinking. "Ryuuzaki, are you alright?" she asked, a bit skeptical of his response. A few seconds passed and he still didn't respond. She sighed, not really expecting his next action.

"Hikari," he called to her. She turned to face him and froze. Her gaze widened, startled by his lips pressed against hers. She was completely stunned, unable to move, breathe, or even think a clear thought. She was so lost, she didn't even realize that she had closed her eyes and kissed him back. She could now compare herself with the deer in the headlights, unable to move to save its life. How was it possible that one man could do something as simple as give her a kiss and turn her brain into jelly? Maybe, it was absolute bliss she was feeling at the moment that made her feel as if time had stopped. Was this how all those other girls from her high school years felt when they received their first kiss? This wonderful sensation... was this it?

He pulled away, his eyes slowly returning to the spot on the ground. "Thank you," he said softly, barely above a whisper. In the amount of time she had spent with him, she knew he was a little uncomfortable when it came to human interaction and could tell by his actions afterwards that the detective was indeed nervous about what he just managed to do. Like her, this was the first time he had ever kissed someone. She smiled as she watched him.

"You're welcome, Ryuu--" she began.

"L's fine," he told her, looking back up to her. He caught her gaze with his own as an awkward silence passed between them. She smiled and hugged him, causing another wave of puzzlement to pass through his mind. But as confusing as it was, he didn't mind it. It actually felt… nice.

Kaito stood near the doorway, watching the scene. He sighed and shook his head as he walked off, "I never will understand humans and their emotions. It's all beyond me," he said as he grabbed the last bag of chips out of the cabinet and lied down on the couch.

* * *

**A/N:**Aww! I've been waiting 28 chapters to write that kiss scene (hope it was alright). Finally, we're getting somewhere, now all we need to do is kill off Light and we have a happy ever after… as if it's that easy XD Anyway, hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for reading and please review! :D

**Orohippus:** Well, I can see you're happy. Thanks for the review ;D

**Kittenn1011:** Glad you're enjoying them :D thanks for the review

**The Blonde One:**lol, yep, L's alive! Thanks, it makes me happy that the chapters didn't turn out as bad as I thought they would. Thanks for the review! : )

**Anonymous reviewer:**I'm happy you like the story and Hikari, she's fun to write (as is Kaito who is my favorite oc- not too sure why, but he just makes me laugh when I write him, especially later on in the story). Yeah, when I read the pilot manga and saw there were no rules I was actually a bit disappointed. I'll try my best to keep up the good work and I'll try to update soon. :D Thanks for the review

**Twilit Queen:**Yay! I'm glad to see that you love the story. Yeah, I try my best to keep him in character though I will admit that at some moments it's a bit tricky. Hopefully, I kept him pretty much in character in this chapter as well. Aw, I'm sorry. Yeah, Rem was pretty cool up to the point where L died, but that was more Light's fault -stabs Light plushy with a spork- Anyway, thanks for the review! :D

-_Reaper_


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